Constantine was dark enough to please the fan base but director Francis Lawrence said they could have done better. He's going all out with the sequel knowing it would definitely get an R-rating.

Director Francis Lawrence stoked fan anticipation, saying they're "closer than ever to a Constantine sequel". That can't come soon enough because Keanu Reeves said that's a follow-up he's eager to film. Lawrence said a stroke of luck gave them headway. "" he told Entertainment Weekly. "NBC did make a series. We've always gotten held up because they go, 'No, we have Constantine. We want to do something with Constantine. You guys can't do your Constantine.' "

Constantine's story was self-contained, but fans of the comics know there's deeper lore the sequel could dive in. "We just started cooking up some ideas," Lawrence teased. "I will say that , that there is an idea that Keanu and [writer] Akiva [Goldsman] and I all really love, and ."

Constantine 2 will be a standalone sequel; there's no pressure to read the comics or watch the first film. "It's a little bit like when we do these Hunger Games movies now," he added. "You want the movies to work on their own, but I think ."

Lawrence mused said Constantine would have been scarier if he knew it would get an R-rating. Under Warner Bros.' behest, they did everything so the film would be rated PG-13. "We followed to a T all the rules in terms of sexuality, nudity, blood, gore, violence, swearing, all of that stuff," he recalled. "But the gray zone — and this is something I've battled in many, many of my movies with the ratings — is intensity." The MPAA gave the film a definitive R, "no notes, no changing our mind". Lawrence argued that Lord of the Rings was more violent but it was PG-13; "[The MPAA] said 'Yes, but "

", which could have been more intense, could have had some scarier bits," he continued. The film was a modest success at the box office, partly because it wasn't PG-13. Lawrence confirmed that was unfortunate, and he expects Constantine 2 would also get an R-rating. "" he asserted. "" Lawrence also recalled they had an early draft of the script but they scrapped it.

Constantine 2 currently does not have a release date.

Source: Entertainment Weekly