Movies
‘Constantine’ Director Francis Lawrence Gives Promising Sequel Update
It’s been just over two years since the official announcement of Constantine 2, with Keanu Reeves coming back to play DC’s John Constantine. While updates have since been scarce, returning director Francis Lawrence recently provided Collider with an exciting update on the sequel.
Speaking with the outlet for the 4K release of the original film, Lawrence teased that Constantine 2 is still very much in the works.
“I will say we are closer than ever to being able to do a sequel, which is a great thing. And Akiva, Keanu and I are super, super excited about it,” Lawrence said. Akiva Goldsman will write the screenplay and produce the project.
As for what to expect, the filmmaker added, “We have a great idea. We have gone through a bunch of the comics over the years and looked at things. I will say that there’s probably grains from things that we’re pulling, but in truth, most of it is just coming from the three of us, you know, loving the character, loving the world, having it sort of in the back of our minds for 20 years and just kind of percolating on ideas, and stories and characters we love, and ideas we love.”
This is a very promising update, considering the project faced setbacks shortly after being announced in 2023. Namely, the dual strikes. Lawrence detailed some of those setbacks to Gamespot previously, “And we had to jump through a bunch of hurdles to get control of the character again, because other people had control of the Vertigo stuff. We have control.”
2005’s Constantine is loosely based on the DC Comics/Vertigo Comics’ Hellblazer, with Reeves playing the chain-smoking demon hunter. The movie made $230 million worldwide back in 2005, against a $100 million production budget.
The bottom line? After much delay, Lawrence, Goldsman, and Reeves remain committed to Constantine 2. Stay tuned.
From director Sébastien Vaniček, Evil Dead Burn releases in theaters July 10, but that’s just one of two brand new Evil Dead movies releasing in the next two years.
Evil Dead Wrath recently wrapped production, with the upcoming film from director Francis Galluppi (The Last Stop in Yuma County) set for theatrical release on April 7, 2028.
We’ve known virtually nothing about the movie up to this point, but a recent interview with producer Rob Tapert has surfaced this week (thanks, Dread Central) and it reveals a very surprising bit of information about Evil Dead Wrath. The film is set in 1972!!
Tapert told the students at Michigan State University during a chat, “Evil Dead Wrath is yet another great departure. It predates everything. It takes place in 1972.”
That means Evil Dead Wrath takes place even before the arrival of Ash Williams and friends to that infamous cabin in the woods, which should give the film a whole new kind of flavor.
Sam Raimi’s Army of Darkness was of course set in the Middle Ages, but Evil Dead Wrath will take place chronologically before Ash Williams was transported into medieval times!
“It will feel like a 1972 movie because the director and his DP want to imitate the film’s look and feel of something that’s called Ektachrome 100, which was a film stock,” Tapert notes. “Still available. A lot of movies shot on back then. And so it’s very warm, very tungsten.”
Tapert calls Wrath “very Tarantino-esque, very deliberate. [Galluppi] made a movie, not a horror movie, that I liked a great deal called Last Stop in Yuma County. It’s worth looking up.”
The Last Stop in Yuma County, it’s interesting to note, is also set in the 1970s!
Charlotte Hope (The Nun), Jessica McNamee (Mortal Kombat), Zach Gilford (“Midnight Mass”), Josh Helman (Mad Max: Fury Road), Ella Newton (Dangerous Animals), Elizabeth Cullen (Diabolic), and Ella Oliphant will star in Evil Dead Wrath.
Evil Dead creator Sam Raimi and franchise producer Rob Tapert are producing. Bruce Campbell and Lee Cronin will executive produce alongside Romel Adam and Jose Canas.