The DC-related supernatural property “Constantine” has been in the air for the last two years. Whispers of a belated sequel with Keanu Reeves were bandied about at one point and then seemingly squashed in 2021 when Reeves was asked by reporters and said he “would love to” make a “Constantine” sequel, but the studios weren’t interested. Instead, Warner Bros. and HBO Max went ahead with a “Constantine” series from J.J. Abrams’ Bad Robot productions that was supposed to kick off an interconnected world of supernatural DC projects like “Justice League Dark,” but none of those projects have yet come to fruition.
Well, with the streaming world in turmoil and HBO Max seemingly dialing back heavily on the barrage of content they once promised, Warner Bros. is now shifting back to “Constantine” as a movie, and it’s bringing back Reeves. Yep, 17 years after “Constantine” first came out in 2005, Reeves is returning to play the title role in a sequel directed once again by filmmaker Francis Lawrence who went on to have great success with the “Hunger Games.”
That film centered on supernatural exorcist and demonologist John Constantine, who helps a policewoman prove her sister’s death was not a suicide, but something more. Moreover, it wasn’t really connected to the DC Universe, and it’s unclear if it will connect to that world.
First reported by Deadline, Akiva Goldsman will write the “Constantine” sequel with Bad Robot’s J.J. Abrams and Hannah Minghella producing. That seems to suggest that the entire HBO Max/Bad Robot superhero slate has been scrapped—the “Constantine” series, the “Madame X” series, and related projects like “Justice League Dark” and “Zatanna.” In fact, many trades initially reported that the Bad Robot projects were dead.
But Deadline has amended with an entirely new article that reports Bad Robot will be shopping around the “Constantine” and “Madame X” to other potential streamers, which backs up a Hollywood Reporter piece earlier in the day suggesting that Warner Bros. appetite for licensing out their content to rival studios (at a nice profit obviously) was changing and growing. That indicates that a supernatural world connected to DC heroes could still be in the cards.
As for things like “Justice League” or “Zatanna,” apparently no decisions have been made on them yet, or at least there’s no word on their status, but so far, only “Constantine” and “Madame X” were officially passed on by HBO.
The entire story also underscores potentially becoming a tense relationship between Bad Robot and HBO Max. Abrams company signed a $200 million deal in 2020 to make DC superhero projects for Max—many of the aforementioned projects above and more—and yet has failed to produce. Bad Robot was also trying to get two Superman projects off the ground too as part of the deal, but neither of the projects—one from Michael B. Jordan, one from Tashaie Coates— has moved forward. As early as May 2022, many trades reported that HBO Max had grown frustrated with Bad Robot’s lack of progress on many of these films and TV series.
HBO Max already scrapped the “Demimonde” series from Bad Robot earlier this summer, and obviously, now two more projects are being shown the door.
What does it all mean in the end? Well, don’t be entirely surprised if none of Bad Robot’s DC projects gets picked up, and Max passes on all of them and then eventually severs ties on that deal. But hey, stranger things have happened, and maybe there’s still a chance. As Warner Bros. Discovery lurches forward in uncomfortable directions for the entire industry, perhaps more news will shake out on these projects soon.