Constantine 2 director given an extremely hopeful update on the sequel starring Keanu Reeves

After almost two decades since Keanu Reeves stepped into the role of John Constantine in Constantine, and the film going down as one of the finest, most distinctive films in the genre of horror, director Francis Lawrence gave fans a hopeful update on when we can expect a sequel to the highly acclaimed film.

Speaking to Collider, Lawrence confirmed that the film is actively taking shape and that Reeves, Akinu, and Lawrence himself are super excited about the project. The director said,

"I will say we are closer than ever to being able to do a sequel, which is a great thing. And Akiva, Keanu and I are super, super excited about it."

Francis also disclosed that the team has done its research based on the comics that have come out in support of the DC character and that they have a "great idea" for the follow-up to Constantine.

"We have a great idea. We have gone through a bunch of the comics over the years and looked at things. I will say that there's probably grains from things that we're pulling, but in truth, most of it is just coming from the three of us, you know, loving the character, loving the world, having it sort of in the back of our minds for 20 years and just kind of percolating on ideas, and stories and characters we love, and ideas we love."

This update comes more than a decade after the director last teased a potential sequel. Before this, in 2011, Lawrence had confirmed that there would be a sequel to the movie as he teased that they would explore darker aspects of the franchise this time. Speaking to MTV, the director said,

It's interesting that over the years, Constantine seems like it's become ... like it has this sort of cult following, which has been great. It's been embraced. It would be great to figure out a sequel, and if we did, and we've been trying to figure one out, it would be great to do the really dark, scary version. We got caught in that weird PG-13–R no man's land, and we should do the hard-R scary version, which I would love to do."

Producer Lorenzo di Bonaventura also confirmed in 2024 while speaking to Comic.com that the script for the film is ready, while Reeves has, on multiple occasions expressed his desire to be a part of the sequel.

What is Constantine about?

Based on the graphic DC novels, Constantine revolves around the titular character played by Reeves, who is an exorcist and has the power to communicate with angels and demons and can travel across Earth to Hell. The supernatural film explores biblical characters of Hell and Heaven and Constantine's journey through his superpowers of perceiving the paranormal. In the later part of the story, Constantine is condemned to hell for committing the sin of suicide as he also suffers from lung cancer throughout the film.

The film also stars Shia LeBeouf, Tilda Swinton, Peter Stormare and Rachel Weisz.