Earlier this year, it was announced that Warner Bros. Discovery would be bringing back Keanu Reeves and director Francis Lawrence for a second Constantine film. In a recent interview, Lawrence spoke on how he’d like to handle the film.
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Speaking with The Wrap, Lawrence stated that if he had his say, Constantine 2 would be a “real R-rated” film, which stems from a frustration he had with the original film.
“One of the biggest things, for me, about the first one was we followed, per Warner Bros., the rules to make a PG-13 movie in terms of violence, blood, language, sexuality. But the ratings board gave us a hard R based on their the gray zone of intensity,” said Lawrence. “And my big, big regret was that we have an R-rated movie that’s really a PG-13 movie, and if I was going to have to go have an R, I would have really made an R-rated movie. I would have made it much scarier and much more violent, and I would have really made an R-rated movie.”
This time around, however, Lawrence said his plans are to “really go at it” and make a film that is properly reflective of the character, which means that a real R-rated film might be coming.
“The idea is, this time, at least for me, is to really go at it and make a real R-rated Constantine which is, I think, what people always wanted originally, not the PG-13 version that just happens to get an R,” said Lawrence.
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The original 2005 Constantine film was met with mixed reviews but quickly became a cult classic amongst fans. Not too much is known about the planned sequel as of now, but the film will be written by Akiva Goldsman and produced alongside J.J. Abrams and Hannah Minghella.
