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Francis Lawrence says a sequel to Constantine has a script and fresh reason for optimism following the reported departure of James Gunn and Peter Safran as DC co-studio heads. The director also says getting the Keanu Reeves project made depends on the companies involved agreeing to move forward.
Lawrence, who directed Reeves in the 2005 action-horror film, told Collider that the filmmakers have an idea for the follow-up and want to make it. Variety reported his comments alongside the news of the DC leadership change. The sequel remains a prospect rather than a confirmed production.
The director said that “the people that were at DC were an impediment to us making it”. He described the reported leadership news as a possible opportunity, while making clear that he did not want anyone to lose their job.
His comments offer an unusually specific account of why a sequel with a returning star and director has remained difficult to make: enthusiasm from the creative team is only part of the equation. Lawrence said people at Paramount, Warner and whoever runs DC would all need to get on board.
What Lawrence said about the sequel’s prospects
Lawrence said he, Reeves, Akiva Goldsman and J.J. Abrams all want to make the film. Goldsman was previously reported to be writing its script, while Abrams was reported as one of its producers.
That group connects the latest update to a project the filmmakers have pursued for years. Lawrence said they had been trying to make a second Constantine for more than two decades, with obstacles repeatedly standing in the way. The original was released in 2005 and drew on the Hellblazer comics.
For viewers waiting to see Reeves return, the distinction is between a film the people involved want to make and one that has the necessary backing. Lawrence’s description of a script suggests the project has material to put before the relevant decision-makers; his comments about Paramount, Warner and DC show why that alone does not settle its future.
His remarks also stop short of assigning individual blame to Gunn or Safran. Lawrence referred broadly to people who had been at DC as an impediment and connected his renewed optimism to the reported change in leadership. He did not describe the change as a guarantee that the sequel would be approved.
How the script update fits the project’s timeline
In February 2025, Reeves said the filmmakers had pitched a story to DC Studios and were going to try to write a script. Lawrence’s latest account marks a further stage in that creative work: he now says the team has both an idea and a script.
Those updates describe the project from two different moments, not a production schedule. The earlier pitch showed the filmmakers were taking a story to DC; Lawrence’s more recent comments put the emphasis on gaining support across the companies he named. His account does not establish who wrote the script he referred to, despite the earlier report about Goldsman’s involvement.
The reported DC leadership change matters because Lawrence identifies the studio’s former personnel as part of the problem. His hope is that different decision-makers could give the filmmakers another opportunity to present their version of a sequel.
What comes next, by his account, is agreement among the relevant parties. For now, the update gives fans a clearer sense of both the work the filmmakers say they have done and the institutional support they still need.
