Constantine is directed by Francis Lawrence and stars Keanu Reeves as John Constantine. The movie is based on the Hellblazer comic series published by DC Comics. This movie is one of the darkest comic book adaptations ever. But the movie is different from the source material as many alterations were made to fit Keanu Reeves. Despite its popularity, there are no signs of a possible sequel. Let’s have a look at 5 reasons why we never get to see a Constantine sequel.
Keanu Reeves Wasn’t Interested
After the release of the film, Francis Lawrence opened up his mind regarding his interest to direct a sequel and success of his 2007 film, I Am Legend, gave him more confidence. But Keanu Reeves wasn’t interested in doing a sequel as he couldn’t find anything interesting about his character and the movie. Since then, he’s changed his mind and during an interview (2014), he said: “I love Constantine too. I loved playing John Constantine. I wish there was a sequel. With me in it.”
It Wasn’t A Hit
The main problem with most of the comic book movies is that it either becomes blockbusters or complete box-office disasters. Made with a budget of $100 million, Constantine collected more than $230 million worldwide making it a semi hit. Even though the figures seemed decent enough, it wasn’t spectacular enough to give the green light for a possible sequel.
The Pitch Got Tossed
Francis Lawrence tried several times to get a sequel off the ground, but nothing happened as expected. He even had a script called ‘Through the Eye of the Needle’ written by the Constantine writer Frank A. Cappello. The script was not based on the comics and it was based on an original and fresh idea. It was reported that they planned to complete the film with a considerably lower budget of $35 million. But at last, it also didn’t happen.
The Constantine TV Show Flopped
After the failed sequel attempts, the studio (Warner Bros.) decided to deviate from the sequel idea and planned for a TV series. In 2014, a Constantine TV series starring Matt Ryan was debuted on NBC. Even though the character was a much more faithful depiction of the source material, the series was cancelled after telecasting just 13 episodes. The character later had a cameo appearance on the CW’s Arrow.
It May Be Rebooted
A Justice League Dark movie is under consideration and as of now, Doug Liman is roped in to direct the film. The movie will feature a group of supernatural types including John Constantine, who will help the Justice League from tackling mystical forces which they are not used to. Would Keanu Reeves be interested in playing the character in an ensemble superhero movie? No, we don’t think that he would be interested and this opens up the door for a reboot rather than a likely sequel.
