Shortly after James Gunn announced the first chapter of the new DCU slate, "Gods and Monsters," rumors began to circulate that a direct sequel to Constantine was in the works, and Warner Bros. would later confirm that the project was indeed in the early stages of development.
Since then, we've had conflicting reports relating to the movie's status, and the news that Gunn and Peter Safran had decided to shelve (or cancel outright) a number of planned projects led to speculation that Constantine 2 would likely be among them.
However, director Francis Lawrence later confirmed that the project was still in the works.
“The truth is, somewhere around the 15th anniversary or something, we did a Zoom and we all were discussing trying to get it up and going again. And again, we were just more active with it and finally got it past all these hurdles. And so we are now actively working on a script. So it’s really not that it’s just like, ‘Oh yeah, now we think the world is ready for it.’ I certainly think there is a bigger fan base and certainly it’s become a kind of cult classic, which has been really exciting to see and very strange, but it’s something we’ve always loved. We’re now in a spot where we are actively working on a script."
“And so we had been thinking about it.," he went on. "We had also been given an R rating [on the first Constantine] when we kind of made a PG-13 movie and followed all the PG-13 rules. So we’re like, ‘F–k it, let’s go and do a sequel and really make an R-rated movie. Give us an R, let us make a real R-rated movie.’”
We know that a finished script doesn't necessarily mean that a project will actually enter production, but star Keanu Reeves has now shared another positive update.
"Fingers crossed. Another draft of the script came in. We're gonna take it to the studio and hopefully they like it too," the actor told Fandango while doing promotion for Good Fortune.
We're not sure if this potential sequel would be part of the DCU or an "Elseworlds" project like Matt Reeves' The Batman - Part II, but we'd say the latter is more likely.
The first Constantine received mixed reviews when it was released back in 2005, but despite an Americanized interpretation of the Scouse magic-wielder and a few more liberties with the source material, fans reacted well to Reeves' take on the anti-hero, and the movie has gained a strong following over the years.