Max Killed JJ Abrams' Constantine After Casting A Lead (SPOILER: It Wasn't Keanu)
With so many Constantine adaptations that have underperformed or failed to even happen, you would think the character was cursed by Lucifer Samael Morningstar himself.
The character has had a rough go at it across several adaptations. The 2005 live-action film starring Keanu Reeves in the titular role had a tepid reception but has garnered much higher favor in recent years, and the "Constantine" series on NBC starring Matt Ryan was canceled after one season, though Ryan's take on the character did join the final few seasons of The CW's "DC's Legends of Tomorrow." Now, there's good news and bad news for the continuation of the character in mediums other than comics.
Variety reports a sequel to Reeves' "Constantine" is still in development despite stalling during the WGA strike, but a new Constantine-starring show developed by JJ Abrams and his Bad Robot Productions for Max has been canned. The show, which would've been set in modern-day London, had four scripts written for it. Production was far enough along on the Max show to the point where a lead was cast. According to The Illuminerdi, British actor Ṣọpẹ Dìrísù, who previously starred in "Gangs of London," had been tapped for the lead role, but it's a moot point now as, apparently, only one Constantine project can live while the other must perish.
Yeah, we're thinking Keanu Reeves is back ... as Constantine
While the "Constantine" Max series looks dead in the water, fans can at least rejoice that more of the character is on the way in some form. Francis Lawrence, who directed the original movie, is reportedly back for the sequel, as is Keanu Reeves, who will reprise the titular role. However, it's likely going to be a while until a sequel materializes because there still isn't a script for it. But even though the WGA strike held up production, Lawrence explained to GameSpot that things are beginning to progress again. "Keanu and Akiva Goldsman and I have been in meetings and have been hashing out what we think the story is going to be, and there's more meetings of those that have to happen — the script has to be written — but really hoping that we get to do 'Constantine 2,' and make a real rated R version of it."
The first film was also rated R, but Lawrence has explained in the past that it was shot with the intention of being PG-13; it just so happened to get slapped with a more mature rating, but he wants to go all in on an R-rated story this time around. In addition to Lawrence focusing on the comic book movie sequel, his latest directorial project, "The Hunger Games: The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes," is slated to come out November 17. He's also attached to a "Bioshock" project for Netflix, so he's certainly keeping busy.
With the amount of love 2005's "Constantine" has gotten over the past 18 years, one would hope a sequel would fare much better at the box office.