During Collider’s Producers on Producing panel at this year’s San Diego Comic-Con, host Steve Weintraub discussed the sequel to the 2005 superhero horror movie, Constantine. In the discussion, producers Lorenzo Di Bonaventura and Akiva Goldsman, two veterans of the movie industry, gave their thoughts on the sequel, in particular the crafting of the script. When questioned about the script’s progress, Goldsman replied, “It’s going fine. I’m writing a script about Constantine 2. It’s good. I hope to have a script for my partners soon,” and when asked how long he’s been working on the script, Goldsman jokingly replies, “Yes.”

About the potential for an R-rated script, Goldsman notes, “Oh, I can’t say that. I’m definitely writing a script about Constantine.” Bonaventura added a humorous note about what helped get the first film made:

“What’s funny about Constantine, I was president and put you on Constantine. I was trying to get a green light, then I ended up becoming one of the producers as I left the studio. Our boss was an ardent anti-smoker, and he was absolutely against this movie because he’s a character. So, there are funny things that get movies made. This is what happened, I went to him and said, “This is an anti-smoking movie.” And he said, “What do you mean?” I said, “He gets cancer.” He got me money.”

The Constantine sequel has been something discussed for quite some time now, with many weighing in on the franchise’s potential return. One such person who has had his say is the movie’s star, Keanu Reeves, who commented on such to Collider’s Weintraub back during a press junket for John Wick: Chapter 4. Reeves remarked, “DC world [is] re-evaluating whether or not they want to do a Constantine with me in the movie… So fingers crossed!” Since then, plans have moved forward, with the director of the original, Francis Lawrence, even commenting about his desire to not just bring the project to life but make it as R-rated as possible. With strikes and other such hurdles proving a problem for the sequel, fingers crossed a smooth road ahead will see it arrive safely on screens sometime soon.

In the discussion with Weintraub, Goldsman sheds light on the process that went into getting the project to where it is today, citing a Reeves interview with Stephen Colbert as a fair catalyst:

“Yes. You get to be one of the patron saints of this redux. Fundamentally, what happened was we went through a bunch of different lives at Warner Bros. We have always been trying very hard to reconvene the group from the first movie. Frances and Keanu in particular had very much wanted to revisit the character. As I’m sure those of you who follow this know—and those of you who don’t shouldn’t—the movie we made, we thought was PG-13, and then it was R because of demons. So, everybody sort of felt like, “Gee, if it was going to be R, we might have dug a little more deeply into some of the stuff we were working with.”

He then added, “There was always this desire, if not lurching, to try to redo it. We tried it for TV, and we could never quite get the rights back; the rights were sort of going around. There was a sort of ground swell—there was a TV series somewhere in there. Then Keanu went on Colbert—not two nights ago when he did it again, but a few years ago, and said, “It’s the one character I’d like to revisit,” and you’d be stunned what would do when it comes to a studio’s enthusiasm. So, life returned.” Goldsman then finally noted how the release of John Wick certainly helped the project look enticing for executives.

Public Desire Proves Greater Than Critical Reception For ‘Constantine’

Image via Warner Bros. Pictures

Despite the years of yearning from fans of the original, Constantine‘s release failed to spark interest from the top critics, proving sometimes just how disconnected the two can be. One such critic who made his disapproval of the film vocal was the late great Roger Ebert, giving the flick a one-and-a-half-star review. Rather than a scathing attack on the project, something Ebert had never been shy of, he instead complained about the film’s lack of individuality and a plot that proved, at times, absurd. Nevertheless, and despite some other poor reviews, the film has since become a bit of a cult classic, with many still revisiting Reeves and his horror-fueled action to this day.

A current synopsis for Constantine 2 reportedly reads, “Reeves will reprise his role as supernatural exorcist and demonologist John Constantine. Who, in the original is dying, but sticks around to save his soul by keeping demons in hell from breaching earth.” The promise of Reeves’ return alone is enough to put tickets in pockets, but the confirmation of Peter Stormare returning as Lucifer as well as director Lawrence being back at the helm is more than many could’ve wished for, especially considering the doubtful aura surrounding the sequel in recent years.

Stay tuned for all of our breakouts from our Producers on Producing panel, and make sure to catch Constantine, available to rent now on Prime.