'CONSTANTINE 2' Director Aiming For A Real Rated "R" Film This Time Around

We let ya know back in September that ‘Constantine 2’ was for sure happening and bringing back Keanu Reeves as the Hellblazer himself, John Constantine. Along with that was news that the original films director, Francis Lawrence, is also returning to direct the brand new Constantine adventure, and Lawrence explains to The Wrap this week that the sequel will be made with a different mindset.

When Constantine was released in 2005, it did indeed come out with an “R” rating by the MPA but it wasn’t filmed as an “R” rated flick. ‘Constantine 2’ however is hopefully going to change the game and bring us a proper “R” rating.

Lawrence explains, “One of the biggest things for me about the first one was we followed, per Warner Bros., the rules to make a PG-13 movie in terms of violence, blood, language, sexuality. But the ratings board gave us a hard R based on their the gray zone of intensity. And my big, big regret was that we have an R-rated movie that’s really a PG-13 movie. And if I was going to have to go have an R, I would have really made an R-rated movie. I would have made it much scarier and much more violent and I would have really made an R-rated movie.”

“The idea is this time, at least for me, is to really go at it and make a real R-rated Constantine which is, I think, what people always wanted originally, not the PG-13 version that just happens to get an R,” Lawrence continues.

Lawrence also tells The Wrap, teasing another new approach for the upcoming sequel, “I think John Constantine is a funny character in a darkly comic kind of way and I would want to definitely add more of that sarcastic, cynical sense of humor to the story.”

We’ll bring you more as we get it.

Stay up to date with “The Dark Side Of Pop Culture” by following MacabreDaily on Instagram, Facebook, and Twitter.