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Based on the DC Comics adult-targeted comic book Hellblazer, Constantine represents Keanu Reeves triumph in trying to land a lead role in a comic book movie. Reeves, who is a big fan of comic books and Tolkien, has been rumored to have been interested in playing Wolverine, the mysterious tough guy that was the centerpiece of X-Men, and Aragorn, the mysterious tough guy that is the best part of the Lord of The Rings trilogy. Reeves has settled on starring Constantine, the story of a mysterious tough guy with supernatural powers who investigates strange, and possibly other-worldly, happenings.

The project has been in development for a long time and seemed ready to go with Nicolas Cage as the title character and Tarsem Singh as the director. Singh's flair for visually captivating production would have been great for the project, but after he dropped out, Warner Bros. gave the project to another former music video director, Francis Lawrence. Cage later dropped out of the lead role and Reeves pounced on the opportunity.

As a comic book, Hellblazer was part of DC's adult line of comic books; featuring an Englishman with a flair for cursing and some truly bizarre storylines, Hellblazer seems destined for an R rating. But you never know how the big screen translation will pan out as one major change, the English character is now American, has been made. With Keanu on board, that might not have been a bad idea, after all. (Walid Habboub/BOP)

August 21, 2003
Rachel Weisz has signed to play Angela, a police detective who teams with Keanu's John Constantine character to investigate the mysterious suicide of her twin sister. Tilda Swindon is rumored to be up for the part of Constantine's foe, Gabriel, a fallen angel. (Jennifer Turnock/BOP)

September 7, 2003
And adding to the list of pretty, pretty people in this cast, Djimon Hounsou is rumored to have signed on to play a retired demon fighter turned occult club owner named "Papa Midnight." Bush front man (the band, not the President) Rossdale is in talks to play Balthazar, a foil for our boy Keanu. Apparently Gavin wasn't about to let wife Gwen Stefani one up him in the acting career department.

On a less hunky note, charismatic Next Big Thing Shia LeBeouf has signed to play Chaz, Keanu's scrappy demon fighting teen sidekick. LeBeouf previously played the scrappy dirt bike racing teen sidekick in Charlie's Angels 2 and was also the scrappy teen lead in the Project Greenlight vehicle The Battle of Shaker Heights.
(Jennifer Turnock/BOP)

Vital statistics for Constantine Main Cast Keanu Reeves, Rachel Weisz, Peter Stormare Supporting Cast Tilda Swinton, Djimon Hounsou, Gavin Rossdale, Shia LaBeouf Director Francis Lawrence Screenwriter Frank Cappello, Mark Bomback Distributor Warner Bros. Trailer Click Here for Trailer Official Site http://constantinemovie.warnerbros.com/ Rating R Talent in red has entry in The Big Picture

Comparison films for Constantine
Title	Date	Opening	Adjusted Opening	Screens	PSA	Adj PSA	Total BO	Adjusted Total	Mult
Blade II	3/22/02	32.53	33.82	2707	12017.00	12017.0	81.65	84.89	2.51
Spawn	8/1/97	21.21	27.86	2536	8364.00	10568.9	54.97	72.21	2.59
Blade	8/21/98	17.07	21.94	2322	7351.00	9090.8	70.10	90.12	4.11
Crow, The	5/13/94	11.85	17.51	1573	7533.00	10708.7	50.64	74.84	4.27
Crow: City of Angels *	8/30/96	9.79	13.35	2423	4040.00	5301.4	17.90	24.42	1.83