You realize what feels like a tough promote to a Hollywood studio? A series smoking antihero with a nasty angle and terminal lung most cancers whom God himself doesn’t like. Dipping out and in of precise Hell. The place, by the best way, Devil can’t wait to torture him for eternity. Oh, and it’s a large-ish funds superhero film based mostly on a DC/Vertigo comedian. It’s a highway that would come with lawsuits, a music video director, a comic book e-book creator who would relatively go away free cash on the desk than be concerned, and the MPAA gumming up the works. However the place there’s a Keanu Reeves….there’s a means. That is what occurred to Constantine.
The origins of Constantine started in June of 1986 when famed comedian creator Alan Moore launched him in The Saga of Swamp Factor #37. The occult investigator from England was on the hunt for details about one thing large taking place within the supernatural world, (one thing which may even be Devil himself) when he crosses paths with Swamp Factor. The smart-ass, cigarette smoking character proved to be a success amongst followers and achieved his personal collection three years later titled Hellblazer. Operating from 1988 to 2013 and turning into Vertigo’s longest operating title. Constantine’s Hellblazer had turn out to be a serious staple for the label that allowed DC to discover darker, extra grownup fare of their tales.
When the thought to supply the movie got here throughout Producer Lauren Shuler Donner’s desk, she noticed it as a chance to show a comic book e-book right into a basic horror film corresponding to The Exorcist. She started improvement in 1997 and would at one level connect Bulletproof Monk director Paul Hunter to the mission earlier than pivoting to visionary director of The Cell, Tarsem Singh. Evidently that didn’t work out. Singh left the mission round 2001 and was promptly sued by Warner Brothers for violating the phrases of his contract. Singh retorted by counter suing them, claiming that they didn’t stay as much as their finish of the discount. He claimed Warner Bros took away his artistic rights on the movie and wouldn’t permit him to make modifications to the script nor meet with the writers.
Talking of the writers, you wouldn’t see creator Alan Moore’s title connected to the mission on the time, both. He’d turn out to be jaded with the trade after diversifications of his work on League of Extraordinary Gentleman and From Hell. He not solely demanded not to be credited for the movie, however requested his royalties be dispersed among the many others who had labored on the character. He actually meant that sh*t!
The story could be written by The Glimmer Man author Kevin Brodbin in addition to author Jamie Delano, with a screenplay by Frank Capello based mostly loosely on the Hellblazer tales, with a specific concentrate on The Boys author Garth Ennis’ Harmful Habits story arc. This was one thing pitched by Cappello, who was fascinated with the concept a bigger than life hero who had handled as many darkish forces as Constantine had being bested by one thing so simple as a cigarette. The title of the movie was modified from Hellblazer to Constantine to keep away from any confusion with one other darkish story about loss of life and the afterlife… Clive Barker’s Hellraiser. Facet observe: Would like to see Keanu in a Hellraiser film.
One readily available, Warner Bros and firm performed with a variety of harmful sins themselves. The writers and studio took a number of liberties with the character from the comedian books. They moved the story from England to LA. And I don’t know if anybody seen? However Keanu Reeves isn’t British. He doesn’t play the character British, both. He under no circumstances resembles the musician Sting because the comedian e-book had. Neither does Nicolas Cage, who was at one level connected to play the titular character himself. Which might have been equally cool. The character doesn’t even have his signature blonde hair, nor does he put on the identical jacket coloration. He is nonetheless carrying the identical shitty angle. And for Producer Akiva Goldsmith, that’s all that mattered. Goldsmith quipped that he was extra involved with getting the spirit of the character proper than the rest.
Lastly, director Francis Lawrence started to win over the parents at Warner Brothers one after the other in his pitch for the job. Although he had solely completed music movies as much as that time, the studio didn’t thoughts. They wished a director who may preserve the tempo up and preserve the movie trendy and believed he might be the person for the job. Lawrence had a imaginative and prescient for the mission and just one extra particular person to promote his involvement to: Keanu Reeves. Who advised the manufacturing particularly NOT to rent a music video director. When Keanu Reeves made it again from his work on one of many Matrix sequels, Francis crammed a pitch room along with his storyboards and imaginative and prescient for the movie. And in the end gained Reeves over as properly. The items had been lastly in play.
With Keanu absolutely on board, the character of Angela Dodson went to the very succesful Rachel Weisz, who had simply impressed within the thriller The Mummy with Brendan Fraser and its subsequent sequel. The character of Midnite, which was mentioned to be the character the film stayed probably the most trustworthy to, went to Djimon Hounsou. Whereas on the alternative finish of the spectrum, the character of Chas had been modified fairly a bit. What was as soon as Constantine’s solely actual grownup relationship and largely his equal had been switched to extra of an immature understudy that went to the youthful Shiah LaBeouf. The funnest casting of the movie may simply go to Bush entrance man and rock star Gavin Rossdale, who portrayed Constantine’s properly dressed however demonic nemesis, Balthazar. Rossdale, who was spectacular within the function, was given the job and despatched that exact same day to Stan Winston’s studio to have his prosthetic head constructed the place face sculptors had been possible biting their tongues to not make Machinehead jokes.
Tilda Swinton as half breed Gabriel and Peter Stormare as one of the vital entertaining and off placing Devil’s you’ll ever see on display screen rounded out the movies villains. The 2 ended up being favorites of the director, who appreciated the recent vitality they delivered to the tip of a shoot filled with in any other case drained and weary crew members. It’s an vitality enhance you possibly can actually really feel whereas watching the movie.
Although Constantine is fairly CGI laden and vast in scope, in keeping with Lawrence, the toughest shot to movie was really a easy dialog at a diner on a wet day between Reeves and Weisz. This as a result of all the particular results shot had been deliberate down to each tiny element, together with the spectacular exorcism mirror stunt within the opening. Whereas the diner scene concerned eight pages of dialogue and vital exposition between their tow leads. Of which it was crucial to get proper.
That doesn’t imply the particular results had been straightforward. They did should recreate Hell in any case. Which, as we all know could make or break a movie like this (cough, SPAWN). Visible Results Supervisor Michael Fink and Lawrence determined to go for a extra private method, mainly creating Hell as a parallel model of Los Angeles. Their Hell concerned a freeway (in one other nod in the direction of LA site visitors) suffering from deserted automobiles and demons with no eyes (as a result of half their skulls had been lacking). The creatures would collect in massive teams, sniffing and feeling their means for people to tear aside. Flying variations of the demons, referred to as Seplatives had their backside torsos ripped off, so that they had been cursed to remain continually in flight. The producers got here up with this concept after visiting a spot in Yugoslavia that served their drinks in glasses with damaged stemware so that you couldn’t set them down and would to complete rapidly. What the hell is up with the individuals who run that bar in Yugoslavia? Somebody give me an tackle so I can go inform them how incorrect that’s.
Hell was given the identical look as the brilliant warmth wave that occurs simply earlier than a nuclear bomb destroys all the pieces. Every part was made to look as if it had been slowly disintegrating alongside a continuing, directional wind replicating the blowback of an explosion. A few of their hell was sensible and included a big set filled with rotting automobiles and freeway particles. They then draped the partitions in Inexperienced Display screen and added all the nastiness of a dwelling, respiration hell on prime of it. An animatronic puppet of one of many demons was made by Stan Winston so as to add a sensible impact, whereas the bigger hordes had been created with CGI.
For a extremely rad scene the place Angela is swooped away from Constantine by demons, they constructed a full scale constructing flooring and rigged the doorways to blow up and draw back virtually , the identical means dominos would fall. They then hooked Rachel Weisz as much as a pulley system with a inexperienced display screen round it and computerized her into the shot, additionally constructing a miniature mannequin of a bunch of cubicles on the edges to destroy. Later, they added a bunch of particles corresponding to flying paper and staplers in put up. These pictures all paid off extraordinarily properly. Particularly when watching the 4K restoration of the movie all these years later. It’s not the CGI fest it was generally unfairly panned for years in the past.
The props got additional care as properly, with Constantine’s golden cannon being comprised of eight completely different working items that got here collectively to create the unholy shotgun. It additionally was outfitted with a functioning gentle and the precise capacity to fireside blanks. The unholy bible was really filled with Latin copy from the script earlier than it was wrapped in plastic and lined in black slime for impact.
The demon throwdown on the finish when Keanu decides to have his personal demonic moist t shirt contest was filmed multi functional shot, with the stunt crew led by coordinator RA Rondell planning all the combat sequence to a tee.
The character of Vermin Man, a demon comprised absolutely of crabs, bugs, snakes, and even a chicken someplace in there virtually by no means made the movie. He was set to be launched as a mid-movie combat scene which is simply the form of factor studios generally discover disposable. Particularly for a personality this costly that took over a 12 months to create for the particular results crew who did so utilizing a person in an precise Vermin Man swimsuit, in addition to a variety of laptop design. The character was particularly tough to create as a result of his physique composition was all the time in flux and filled with gross, shifting oddities. To make issues worse, as soon as the crew had the shot within the can, the director realized that it wasn’t dynamic or eventful sufficient. They’d to return and shoot extra, with Keanu this time having to dive round on the street, avoiding CG automobiles to be added in put up.
Keanu didn’t thoughts, nonetheless. In a current interview, the beloved actor mentioned that daily on the set was a combination of manufacturing design, cinematography, writing and efficiency. Which was one of the best form of factor you can hope for when making a film. Plus, it’s not daily you get to throw a center finger proper to Devil’s face.
The sounds of Constantine had been contributed by composer Brian Tyler and featured what was mainly a half music video by A Good Circle and their track “Passive”, as properly a monitor by The Dave Brubeck Quartet. The film was lastly able to be launched in February of 2005 after a number of delays. Together with the truth that they had been capturing for a PG-13 score and got an R by the MPAA in any case, possible because of the spiritual content material of the movie.
Constantine opened to just about $30 million in its opening weekend. The movie went on to nab a complete of $230 million worldwide on a manufacturing funds of round $100 million. It’s a type of flicks that has aged surprisingly properly. Critics weren’t precisely gushing over it upon launch nevertheless it has garnered a following over time. A following that’s onerous to name “cult” contemplating the preliminary reasonable field workplace success….however you can positively say it’s extra broadly appreciated at the moment than it was upon launch. Constantine at the moment holds an viewers score of 72% constructive on Rotten Tomatoes.
So with that being mentioned, a sequel is certainly on the best way, proper? They’ve been speaking about it since 2005. But it surely does appear attainable we’re headed in a constructive route. Reeves simply as just lately as February of 2025 confirmed that each he and director Francis Lawrence had offered an thought to DC Studios, who gave them the go forward to put in writing a script that will be set in the exact same world because the 2005 movie.
And that my buddies, is what occurred to Constantine. With hopefully much more taking place quickly.
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