Keanu Reeves is set to reprise his role as John Constantine in a sequel to Constantine, the 2005 film directed by Francis Lawrence. Per the report from Deadline, Lawrence is also set to return as director, with Akiva Goldsman writing the script. This news comes on the heels of a lot of renewed interest in Reeves, following the continued success of John Wick and the long-awaited Matrix Resurrections last year. And the star was expressing interest in revisiting the hellishly fun character just a few months ago.
This isn't the first time news about a Constantine sequel has been in the headlines. Last year reports came out that suggested that HBO Max was looking to launch a sequel series, which appears to have evolved into this newly announced sequel film. Two years ago Collider celebrated Constantine's 15th anniversary with an interview with Reeves, Lawrence, and Goldsman where they shared behind-the-scenes stories about making the cult classic. They also discussed some of the sequel ideas they had at the time, so it will be interesting to see if any of those ideas come into play. The Constantine sequel will be produced by Goldsman's Weed Road Pictures, alongside Bad Robot’s J.J. Abrams and Hannah Minghella.
Constantine premiered seventeen years ago and despite the success that it found at the box office, sequel plans never really emerged for the film. The original film starred Reeves, Rachel Weisz, Shia LaBeouf, Tilda Swinton, Pruitt Taylor Vince, Djimon Hounsou, and Gavin Rossdale. At this time it is unclear if any of the cast will be reprising their roles, though given where the first film ended there definitely is room for them to return.
John Constantine has taken many forms over the years after first being introduced by DC Comics. Most recently Jenna Coleman played a gender-flipped version of the character in Neil Gaiman's The Sandman for Netflix, with Matt Ryan playing the chain-smoking anti-hero in the Arrowverse. At this time it's unclear if this Constantine sequel will bring an end to the other Abrams-backed Constantine project that was reportedly in the works with Ṣọpẹ Dìrísù starring as John Constantine.
Details are still emerging about the sequel, but Reeves is staying booked and busy with John Wick 4 headed to the silver screen next year as he heads into production for Hulu's adaptation of The Devil in the White City. While we wait for more news, check out our interview with Reeves where he discusses his upcoming BRZRKR projects.