The popularity of Keanu Reeves’ 2005 comic book-inspired film “Constantine” had its filmmakers brainstorming ideas for a sequel — and one of those ideas involved the occult detective meeting Jesus himself.
Reeves was joined by “Constantine” producer Akiva Goldsman and director Francis Lawrence for an online reunion in a Comic-Con@Home panel Saturday to commemorate the film’s 15th anniversary. There, they discussed, among many things, the ideas that were tossed around to bring revive the saga of the demonologist, who has the ability to communicate with half-angels and half-demons.
“Oh, my God. [It] endlessly came up,” Goldsman said of talk of sequels. “Boy, we wanted to make…a hard-R sequel. I think we’d probably make it tomorrow. Yes, we tried a lot of different ways to find…it was always [up] to the studios who made it, which were Village Roadshow and Warner Bros. It was always a little bit of a feathered fish.”
And one of the many ideas that came up was from co-writer Frank Cappello and involved John Constantine coming face-to-face with Jesus Christ.
“[John] wakes up in a cell. He has to identify the prisoner… and it was Jesus,” Goldsman said.
So, what happened? Why have we yet to see a “Constantine” sequel? Lawrence said that it’s because the film wasn’t a “knock-out success” at the box office, saying, “We definitely talked about sequels more than [Warner Bros.].”
The 2005 film co-starred Rachel Weisz as a police officer who enlists John to help prove that her twin sister was not a suicide. And a post-credit scene with Shia LaBeouf leaves the door open for future stories “should we ever have gotten to do them,” Goldsman said.
That door remains open, and Reeves, Goldsman and Lawrence are all game for walking through it.
13 of Keanu Reeves' Most Insane Movie Premises - From 'John Wick' to 'Johnny Mnemonic' (Photos)
Reeves plays “Constantine’s” titular exorcist bent on saving Earth from hell -- even though his soul is already damned to be interred there -- in the 2005 comic book adaptation which also starred Shia LaBeouf as a sidekick cab driver.
Warner Bros.
A burned out football player becomes an FBI agent who learns how to surf so he can infiltrate a gang of bank robbers dressed like ex-Presidents and head up by Patrick Swayze. No, seriously, that's "Point Break" (1991).
Twentieth Century Fox Film Corporation
Keanu stars with Sandra Bullock in "Speed," a movie that mostly takes place on a bus that will explode if it slows down below 55 mph. Bullock taking L.A. public transportation? Yeah, right. (1994)
Twentieth Century Fox Film Corporation
Keanu and Sandra reunited for “The Lake House,” a film that saw the “Speed” co-stars falling in love through the mail and through time: Bullock writes to Reeves in 2006 while he is living in 2004. And they don’t even use stamps.
Warner Bros.
A computer hacker discovers humanity is enslaved by a sentient program in “The Matrix” (1999). Reeves soon unplugs himself, masters kung fu and learns to fly.
Warner Bros.
Ted (Reeves) plays a failing high school student who gets sent a time traveling phone booth from the future so that he and his buddy Bill (Alex Winter) can kidnap famous historic persons for their final class project. Turns out he’s destined to become the messiah in “Bill & Ted’s Excellent Adventure” (1989), too.
Orion Pictures
Johnny is a "mnemonic courier" from 2021 with a data storage device implanted in his brain, allowing him to discreetly carry information too sensitive to transfer across the Net, the virtual-reality equivalent of the Internet. Also, Ice Cube leads a rebellion that includes telekinetic dolphins (1995).
TriStar Pictures
Reeves playing a top-notch trial attorney in 1997's "The Devil's Advocate." If that's not wacky enough on it's own, he's also the son of the Devil (Al Pacino).
Warner Bros.
After discovering a dead stripper in his motel room, played by Cameron Diaz, Keanu assumes he’s the murderer in “Feeling Minnesota" (1996). Don’t worry, she’s not dead and they live happily ever after in Vegas.
Fine Line Features
One of the most high-profile bombs in Hollywood history, "47 Ronin" saw Keanu playing Kai, a half-English, half-Japanese character created for the 2013 movie and not included in any previous “47 Ronin” films.
Universal Pictures
Reeves plays a scientist trying to solve the energy crisis in "Chain Reaction" (1996) by splitting up the water molecule, or something. Soon he’s neck-deep in a government conspiracy and being framed for murder and treason.
Twentieth Century Fox Film Corporation
After gambling away six grand, Keanu repays his debts in “Hardball” by coaching an inner-city little league team for an outrageous sum of $500 a week. But the real payoff comes when he teaches the kids the importance of camaraderie, which leads to a successful season that no one saw possible (2001).
Paramount
In “John Wick” (2014), Reeves’ latest offering, he plays a retired hitman who has no choice but to re-enter the seedy underworld after bad guys, wait for it… murder his beloved puppy. Womp, womp.
Summit Entertainment
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The oft-jeered actor has appeared in several films with far-fetched plots, including ”John Wick“ which opens Oct. 24
Reeves plays “Constantine’s” titular exorcist bent on saving Earth from hell -- even though his soul is already damned to be interred there -- in the 2005 comic book adaptation which also starred Shia LaBeouf as a sidekick cab driver.