I’d been fully willing to ignore the upcoming Keanu-fueled remake of The Day the Earth Stood Still. I can marvel at it’s very existence in the same way I do deadly leaping manta rays and botched celebrity surgery, but that doesn’t mean I care an iota that it’s been bankrolled.
Somehow, though, I do get a bit irritated that Reeves is happy to invest in a remake no one wants to see but is down on reprising John Constantine. /Film noticed a nice little paraphrased quote from Keanu that ran on IESB over the weekend. Reeves says that not only is Constantine 2 something he’s no longer interested in, there isn’t a character he’s played that he’s bent on revisiting.
With the exception of Constantine, there aren’t any Reeves characters I want to see revisited, either. I don’t even know why I hold some torch for the London ne’r do well; the first movie was better than I expected it to be, but as a whole I wouldn’t call it much more than ‘decent’. And after the disaster (conceptual but not financial) of I Am Legend, I hold no hope that Francis Lawrence, were he at the helm, wouldn’t make more of a mess on the second pass.
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You know, that guy who plays on the show New Amsterdam wouldn't be such a bad Constantine…I mean he's Dutch but it'd be closer to the character. I don't know.
Bill and Ted 3. I would love to see that, just as long as they bring William Sadler back as the Grim Reaper("you sank my battleship. Best 4 out of 7"). Come on Keanu, spread some of the love you've been getting back to good ol Alex Winters. The Wylde Stallions haven't released an album in ages…. Station.
So I guess he won't make an appearance in Point Break 2 (2009)?
I liked Constantine despite itself, though the supporting cast (Stormare, Swinton, Weisz, Vince, Houseman) certainly helped… but Reeves certainly by no means did anything to make the role HIS, I mean pretty much anyone with an ounce of cynacism in their veins could put their own stamp on the character- and obviously rebooting/casting franchises is all the rage these days…
@ oslowe: As successful as I Am Legend was, WB knows it was Will Smith, not Francis Lawrence, that made it happen. If Lawrence wants to do another Contsantine, which is hardly a bankable property, I can't imagine the studio backing it without a recognizable name attached, which puts a lot on the recasting.
Constantine was a good movie in of itself but not a good hellblazer movie. It's kind of the same as Batman 89, even if both weren't what they should of been to the source material Constantine was a better movie as a single thing.
I'd watch him play a white trash-wife beater again as he did in "The Gift". He actually appeared to have a pulse in that.
I'm not suprised by this. He got a lot of shit for taking the role for the first film. I thought Daniel Craig would've made a good Constantine, but he probably has no need for a franchise now…
You know, one thing I always wondered about them making a Hellblazer movie – did anyone even think to ask Sting? I mean, I know it's probably not in his wheelhouse, and maybe Sting isn't a big 12-24 draw, but if you wanted to really be true to the character (and what made it so popular to the comics crowd), you can't get more realistic than that. And you could probably get a good "Venus of the Hardsell" cut out of it!
BILL & TED SAVE THE WORLD! B&T3 is the only sequel he should do. Ixnay on any SPEED sequels – where would that sequel go? – and although seeing Johnny Utah again would be fun, it's basically TED GOES TO FBI COLLEGE. Which would make a good HAROLD & KUMAR 3. Imagine – Harold, Kumar, and Johnny Utah vs Neil Patrick Harris! Station!
And maybe now we can stop fucking around and get Paul Bettany in the role of John Constantine. And film it in London. Where it belongs. Dammit.
I've said it before and I'll say it again… Paul Bettany for Hellblazer. Just cause I've said it before doesn't mean if I know if I spelled it right or not.
Fuck allayouse, get the guy from Band o Brothers who played Winters, Damian Lewis.
If ever a role was written for an actor it was "Constantine" for Keanu's one-note, monotone delivery. I liked the movie and thought he was a good fit. Dunno why the weenie won't revisit it – is "Johnny Mnemonic" in pre-production or something?
Constantine Sucked!!! I never read the comics but I can only imagine they were a hell of a lot better. The movie has a wild concept but it ends up just being MEH.
As for Francis Lawrence, he has a decent visual style but I have yet to see a good movie from him. I thought that I Am Legend stole a lot of its best parts from the much superior "THE QUIET EARTH". The whole radio broadcast bit/will smith talking to dummies – straight out of THE QUIET EARTH. They should have just remade that movie instead.
Keanu Reeves was the proto-90's action hero envisioned by Bigelow. A kind of anti-Schwarzenegger/Stallone. Smooth, metrosexual and with roots in the indie world, Reeves was a breath of fresh air in POINT BREAK. SPEED & THE MATRIX fulfilled the promise, making him a near-superstar, but backlash tainted him by the time CONSTANTINE rolled around.(Never understood the hate) I find it sorta funny, that fanboys mock Reeves'mannerisms, and disparage his talent(Any one seen RIVER"S EDGE or PERMANENT RECORD?)-yet is he really much different from Cruise, Cage, & W. Smith. I find these action stars to be following a very similar formula.
Love the call for Sting in Constantine! Not just for Lock Stock… but he was a pretty intense shark in Yellowbeard.
I thought the character *was* based on Sting, visually? Didn't Alan Moore state that?
And as for Keanu, it seems like he's trying to channel Clint Eastwood throughout that entire film. I actually enjoyed the film to a degree. It wasn't "great" or even "really good", but it felt like it had a bit of identity going for it, in it's grim way – and Peter Stormare as barefooted Satan was pure win.
go fuck yourself highway to hellblazer.
I know Matrixboy has a lot on his plate, but when is he going to film "The Life and Magical Times of David Copperfield"?
How much of the blame for I Am Legend can really be laid at Francis's feet though? I thought the direction was fine, it was the script by Akiva Goldsman that was problematic.
I don't care how good a director you are. There's only so much you can do with a script by the guy who gave us Batman and Robin.
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