Tag: John Constantine

Guillermo del Toro Just Completed A ‘Justice League Dark’ Script

by Eric Francisco

Renowned director Guillermo del Toro just submitted a new script based on the Justice League Dark comic series (tentatively titled Dark Universe) to Warner Bros. We have much to be thankful for this Thanksgiving.

According to Forbes and /Film, del Toro’s script will feature DC horror staples Swamp Thing, The Demon, Deadman, The Spectre, and among others, John Constantine. I hope Zatanna Zatara is in there somewhere. del Toro has been working on Justice League Dark for several years now, but the last anyone heard about it was vague updates about a story bible. Until today.

With Warner Bros. desperate for any new franchise — and have been since Harry Potter completed his studies and Christopher Nolan’s Batman stopped doing Batman-y things — the studio might be more receptive to the fertile ground that is DC’s occult universe. While Warner Bros. does have Justice League and other associated superhero movies slated for the next several years, they all rely on the success of Batman v. Superman, and while the financial success of that movie is pretty much a given it wouldn’t be a bad idea for the studio to be cooking up other things. The Justice League Dark offers a wealth of fresh characters still relatively unknown and have the potential to be their own powerhouse. At best, they can be the true, symbolically new Universal monsters for the 21st century.

It is also entirely unknown whether or not Dark Universe will tie into the previously-mentioned Justice League movies. A year ago Guillermo del Toro said it was a possibility, but Badass Digest says it’s a sturdy no. I can’t see why not, although I’d understand if they want to focus on building each universe to be their own thing first before expanding into one giant clusterf*ck.

Still, there are reasons for pause. del Toro is currently knee-deep in post-production of Crimson Peak, and shortly after he’ll be taking on continuing Pacific Rim. On top of that, I’m pretty sure executive producing The Strain requires a lot of attention. Even if Warner Bros. executives love del Toro’s script and immediately greenlight it, we won’t see a glimpse of it until maybe 2017. A final film maybe in 2018 or 2019, and that’s being optimistic. (I just realized Power Rangers will be an actual thing by then, and I just got mad del Toro isn’t working on that.)

Elsewhere, NBC’s Constantine struggles to stay on television. News about the show’s continuation are still up in the air, but in the meantime you can watch all five episodes aired so far in their entirety here, free!

I’ve said before how Constantine on NBC is a chance to see the league on television and be totally amazing. I’m still processing how the show might die but a league story may live on a greater scale than I could have imagined.

While movie Constantine pretties himself to return to the big screen, TV Constantine is a drunken pledge passed out at a frat party. He’ll be fine! No, don’t call the cops yet! Wait! Just, turn his head over or something.

Are you excited for a big-screen Justice League Dark movie as I am? Comment below.

NBC’s ‘Constantine’ Ratings Spike 28%, But Things Could Be Better

by Eric Francisco

NBC’s Constantine has gone from hyped genre TV train to a little engine that just maybe can. The excitement from this past summer, as I’ve written before, has kind of vanished, but there’s a renewed vigor amongst fans on social media to keep the show going after cancellation seemed like a possibility just a few short weeks ago. Executive producer Daniel Cerone tweeted this early this afternoon:

I’m not sure just how good exactly a 1.1 is, but because it’s Fridays nights I’m sure the rules are a little different. Ratings, ultimately, are a totally archaic and old-school perspective on television and if I had the power I’d do away with them completely. It’s unfair that a small portion of the TV viewing audience dictates what everyone else gets to see. But because that’s how the game is still played, we have to live with it for now.

While the ratings have spiked, there is still a way to go. The numbers could be better, and the show’s quality — while improving — is still erratic and both the storytelling and the filmmaking are kind of messy. It’s a fun show for sure, but stacked against fellow DC series like The Flash and it pales in comparison.

But congratulations are in order to the cast and crew of Constantine for finally being able to etch out their audience and stay in the fight. As you know, I’m a total supporter for the show (as a lover of Power Rangers for two decades, I always root for potential, and Constantine has that in spades). If you haven’t watched it yet now is the time to dive in. Last night’s episode, “Danse Vaudou,” sees the return of Papa Midnite and is easily the best episode of the season so far. That’s kind of a dubious statement since it is only just the fifth episode, but if the upward trajectory in quality that the show-makers have demonstrated continues, we’re bound to be in for a hell of a ride. I can’t wait for next week.

It demands repeating: Constantine has the entire occult corner of the DC Universe covered. While The Flash and Arrow take on superheroes and super beings, Constantine‘s territory is the supernatural. Should the show thrive, we’re going to see characters like Swamp Thing and Zatanna. Without spoiling, we were introduced to Jim Corrigan (played by Emmett Scanlan), and the producers have made it pretty clear that he will be The Spectre eventually.

I reiterate that I am not paid or sponsored in any way by NBC Universal, DC Comics, or anybody involved with the production of Constantine. I’m just a fan who wants good television to stay on the air. You can watch Constantine on NBC, Friday nights at 10 PM EST. Set your DVR or something. Remember, even Arrow was kind of bad at first.

David Goyer Bringing ‘Constantine’ To NBC!

by Derek Kraneveldt

Briefly: It looks like Gotham isn’t the only comic book based TV series being announced this week.

THR has learned that NBC and David Goyer are developing a series based on DC’s Constantine franchise.

Little else is known at this time, but it’s probably safe to bet that the series will hold very few similarities to the 2005 film of the same name. At this point, the network has committed to a script plus penalty, meaning that a series (or even a pilot) hasn’t been fully greenlit yet, but they’re actively working on it.

Is it just me? Or does it seem like every new show being announced is based on a comic book? Let us know what you think of the news below, and sound out on who you’d like to see play the titular character!

We’ll share more Constantine info as soon as it’s available!

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