'Constantine' Finally Returns From Hell With 4K Ultra HD Steelbook (original) (raw)
Keanu Reeves is John Constantine in 'Constantine'
Image via Warner Bros. Pictures
Published Dec 6, 2024, 3:34 PM EST
Ryan O'Rourke is a Senior News Writer at Collider with a specific interest in all things adult animation, video game adaptations, and the work of Mike Flanagan. He is also an experienced baseball writer with over six years of articles between multiple outlets, most notably FanSided's CubbiesCrib. Whether it's taking in a baseball game, a new season of Futurama or Castlevania: Nocturne, or playing the latest From Software title, he is always finding ways to show his fandom. When it comes to gaming and anything that takes inspiration from it, he is deeply opinionated on what's going on. Outside of entertainment, he's a graduate of Eureka College with a Bachelor's in Communication where he honed his craft as a writer. Between The IV Leader at Illinois Valley Community College and The Pegasus at Eureka, he spent the majority of his college career publishing articles on everything from politics to campus happenings and, of course, entertainment for the student body. Those principles he learned covering the 2020 election, Palestine, and so much more are brought here to Collider, where he has gleefully written on everything from the SAG-AFTRA and WGA strikes to Nathan Lane baby-birding sewer boys.
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20 years after it first rose from Hell, everyone is still waiting for a sequel to Francis Lawrence's DC/Vertigo comic adaptation feature debut Constantine. While that reality may still be a ways off, Keanu Reeves's titular exorcist is about to get a fresh new look with a 4K Ultra HD release for the cult classic coming next year to celebrate the major milestone. GRUV has opened pre-orders for a special edition steelbook release that will finally give the film a much-needed upgrade for collectors, though the film will also soon be available with a standard remastered release. An official release date for the Constantine 4K steelbook hasn't yet been set, but the movie will reportedly hit store shelves with a fresh coat of paint in February.
Constantine follows chain-smoking demon hunter John Constantine, a suicide survivor with terminal lung cancer who knows when he dies, he's destined to head back to Hell. As he seeks a way past the pearly gates of Heaven with good deeds, he gets wrapped up with investigator Angela Dodson (Rachel Weisz), who is digging into if and why her twin sister Isabel apparently ended her own life. In the process, he lands in the middle of a chilling plot involving demons and angels alike that would threaten the entire world. Digging deeper only brings them face to face with greater demonic foes, including the son of Lucifer himself.
Though critics weren't overly fond of Lawrence's debut film, it found a dedicated following among viewers despite its changes from the source material, owing to a 72% audience score on Rotten Tomatoes compared to a dismal 46% on the Tomatometer. Constantine would become a modest success at the box office with $230.9 million globally, but work on a sequel didn't get underway until 2022 and Lawrence has since gone on to take the reins of the blockbuster Hunger Games franchise. A 4K release is the perfect opportunity to finally revisit the world of the Hellblazer comics as imagined for the big screen in the best quality possible. It also features other memorable performances besides Reeves and Weisz, including Tilda Swinton, Djimon Hounsou, Shia LaBeouf, Peter Stormare, and Gavin Rossdale.
Will We Ever Get a 'Constantine' Sequel?
Progress may soon begin to pick up on the Constantine sequel front too. The project was hit with delays thanks to last year's WGA and SAG-AFTRA strikes, but producer Lorenzo di Bonaventura confirmed in an interview with Collider's Steve Weintraub back in September that the script had been completed, and he was just about to read it. Akiva Goldsman was tapped to write the film, which will bring Reeves back in the title role and Lawrence back in the director's chair. Where things go from here remains to be seen, but it all appears to be moving smoothly now. Most excitingly, Goldsman and the rest have teased that the sequel may be R-rated, allowing them to explore the entirety of the demonic world without the restrictions the original was subject to.
There is no release date yet for the Constantine 4K limited edition steelbook. Visit GRUV's official website to pre-order a copy now through the link below.
Release Date
February 18, 2005
Runtime
121 minutes
Director
Francis Lawrence
Writers
Frank A. Cappello
Producers
Akiva Goldsman, Benjamin Melniker, Erwin Stoff, Lauren Shuler Donner, Lorenzo di Bonaventura
Cast
Angela Dodson / Isabel Dodson
Supernatural exorcist and demonologist John Constantine helps a policewoman prove her sister's death was not a suicide, but something more.