Constantine producer Akiva Goldsman revealed plans for a scrapped sequel that saw the Keanu Reeves character meeting Jesus Christ.
Keanu Reeves’ Constantine was one of the weirdest superhero films to come out during the mid-2000s. Before the Marvel Cinematic Universe and The Dark Knight trilogy pivoted the modern-day super hero, studios were taking on projects like Constantine that were risky and strange, focusing on the supernatural side of these characters. Based on the Hellblazer comics, Constantine was a decent success at the box office in 2005, but not enough to warrant a sequel. While the studio may not have been game to see Reeves return as the character, producer Akiva Goldsman had an insane pitch for an R-rated sequel.
Speaking with Collider during Constantine‘s 15th anniversary panel at Comic-Con@Home, Goldsman revealed that he had wanted to make a hard R sequel that no one would buy because of how “odd” it was.
“We wanted to make a hard-R sequel, I think we could probably make it tomorrow. We tried a lot of different ways…to the studios who make it, which was Village Roadshow and Warner Bros., it was always sort of a feathered fish. Its oddness, the way it’s equally comfortable with a character scene between Keanu and [Rachel Weisz] as it is with demons hurling themselves at a man who is going to light his fist on fire and expel them. It’s odd. It’s not exactly action-packed, but it has action… Those seem to get harder and harder to make.”
Goldsman then continued by revealing that the sequel would have seen Keanu Reeves’ character meeting Jesus Christ himself.
“We’ve talked about it and we’ve had ideas, and I would love that, what if he woke up in a cell, he has to identify the prisoner? It was [screenwriter Frank Cabello’s] idea that [the prisoner] was Jesus. He comes up and he’s in New York. Yeah, we’ve talked about a sequel,”
Constantine has reveled in its cult status for a decade, garnering new fans every year. With the film’s popularity growing and Hollywood obsessed with monetizing nostalgia, it’s surprising that a sequel hasn’t been green-lit. Just a few weeks ago, director Francis Lawrence discussed how he and Keanu Reeves wanted to do a sequel but plans were scrapped by Warner Brothers. While it has been 15 years since the film graced audiences, Reeves’ enduring popularity and the name recognition of Constantine could potentially result in a sequel. Currently, however, there are no plans to see the character return to the big screen. Constantine is expected to show up in HBO’s upcoming Justice League Dark series.
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Source: Comic-Con@Home
