Entertainment
Keanu Reeves’ Failed Fantasy Franchise-Starter Rises From the Ashes on Streaming Ahead of Planned Sequel
Around a decade before he starred in the first John Wick, launching a franchise that would go on to define the second act of his career, Keanu Reeves attempted to jump on the comic book bandwagon with mixed results. In 2005, he headlined the rather subversive comic book movie Constantine, which immediately set itself apart in a world that had just been taken over by Sam Raimi‘s Spider-Man and the X-Men films. The darker, more complex DC character was never as popular in the mainstream as A-listers such as Superman and Batman, and this showed in the film’s unremarkable box office performance and mixed reception. However, over the years, Constantine has developed a genuine cult following, and as reports of a sequel heat up, the movie is witnessing a spike in interest on streaming.
According to FlixPatrol, Constantine was among the most-watched movies on the domestic iTunes charts this past week, when the leader board was dominated by Paul Thomas Anderson‘s recently released One Battle After Another. Constantine debuted two decades ago, and grossed around $230 million worldwide against a reported budget of $100 million. It marked director Francis Lawrence‘s debut, and earned mixed reviews from critics. The fantasy noir film is now sitting at a 46% score on the aggregator website Rotten Tomatoes, where the critics’ consensus reads, “Despite solid production values and an intriguing premise, Constantine lacks the focus of another spiritual shoot-em-up: The Matrix.”
The Stars Are Aligning for ‘Constantine 2’
However, the audience has embraced Constantine over the years, and they’ve awarded it a 72% score on RT. This sustained popularity is one of the biggest reasons why, according to Lawrence, they’re closer to making a sequel now than they’ve ever been before. Plus, Reeves has re-established himself as a major star with the billion-dollar-grossing John Wick franchise, while Lawrence himself has risen up the ranks of Hollywood thanks to his work on the Hunger Games series. Speaking exclusively with Collider’s Maggie Lovitt while promoting the 4K release of the original film, Lawrence said, “I will say we are closer than ever to being able to do a sequel, which is a great thing. And Akiva [Goldsman], Keanu and I are super, super excited about it.”
You can check Constantine out at home, and stay tuned to Collider for more updates.
- Release Date
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February 18, 2005
- Runtime
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121 minutes
- Director
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Francis Lawrence
- Writers
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Frank A. Cappello
- Producers
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Akiva Goldsman, Benjamin Melniker, Erwin Stoff, Lauren Shuler Donner, Lorenzo di Bonaventura
