Continuing his semi-regular campaign to play the part once again, The Matrix and John Wick star Keanu Reeves has made it clear he wants to play DC Comics anti-hero John Constantine on the big screen once again. The fan-favorite actor has opened up in previous interviews about being interested in taking on the role for a follow-up but so far it seems like Warner Bros. hasn’t budged at the opportunity. Now Reeves has reiterated the matter in an interview with Esquire, noting: “I love playing Constantine. John Constantine. I’ve played a lot of Johns. How many Johns have I played? I don’t even know. I think it’s over ten. But anyway, I’d love to have the chance to play Constantine again.”
Released in 2005, in-between Catwoman and Batman Begins to give you an idea of how wild those days were, Reeves co-starred in the film alongside an all-star ensemble including Rachel Weisz, Shia LaBeouf, Djimon Hounsou, Gavin Rossdale, Peter Stormare, and Tilda Swington. The film received mixed critical reviews upon release and grossed just north of $230 million worldwide on a reported $100 million budget, making it not quite a hit but not really a bomb either. Constantine was derided by some upon its release for being so loose with its source material but has found a place in recent years as a fan-favorite and one that could no doubt have spawned a franchise if released at a later time amid the resurgence of comic book properties as movies.
Also, for those keeping track of the number of Johns that Keanu has played the count is 8; including: John Constantine (Constantine), John Wick (three times), Don John (Much Ado About Nothing), Johnny Utah (Point Break), Jonathan Harker (Bram Stoker’s Dracula), John (Generation Um…), Johnny Silverhand (Cyberpunk 2077), and the titular Johnny Mnemonic.
Last year marked the 15th anniversary of Constantine’s release, something that Reeves himself marked in a special way. It also saw director Francis Lawrence open up about the possibility of a sequel, telling Slash Film in an interview:
“I think we all wanted to do it. It was successful enough. We wanted to make a responsible, more R-rated movie. By responsible, I mean we’d make a movie that wouldn’t cost quite as much as the original, which we thought was going to be PG-13. We worked on the sequel for a while. It was tricky to come up with where to take it. What I really liked about the first one was it was a really personal story, so I thought it’d be a mistake to get caught up in the supernatural gobblygook. The idea of a personal story was really interesting, and that was the hard thing to come across…..We have been talking about it recently. It’s always stuck with all of us because we all love the movie, and especially realizing there’s a real cult following for this movie, it’d be fun to make. Keanu, Akiva, and I have actually talked about it.”