In 2005, the chain-smoking occult hero from the Hellblazer comic book was introduced to new audiences in the Keanu Reeves-starring Constantine, inspiring fans worldwide and launching a cult appreciation for the film that still endures today. Now, exactly twenty years later, Constantine is being rereleased on Digital and Blu-ray in 4K for the first time with an impressive new slate of bonus features commemorating the movie’s 20^th Anniversary. To celebrate this new edition of his very first film, we spoke with Constantine’s director, Francis Lawrence, about what it took to adapt a complex character like John Constantine, the trials and tribulations of staying tonally accurate to the original stories and what that long-discussed sequel might be like.

Constantine was the very first film you directed. What was the process like, and how was it when the film finally released?

There were a variety of feelings. It was massively exciting to do my first feature film, and I spent nine months working really hard to get the job. We also shot in LA on the Warner Bros. lot, and getting to do that with an excited group of actors was terrific. The day-to-day shooting I was familiar with, as I’d been making music videos for ten years. But the large scale of a feature film was new, as well as the cast of actors.

I think what was most nerve-wracking was the long form storytelling. Navigating real storytelling and digging in with actors was the toughest leap in transitioning from music videos to features. But overall, it was a fun time with a great crew and great cast.

When it came out, it was a mixed bag. We got hit a little bit critically, which stung, but wasn’t surprising since we made a weird, dark, strange movie that we knew not everyone was going to like. Financially, we did okay, especially back in that time since we got slapped with an R rating. Overall, it was thrilling, but I’ve also learned a lot since this launched my career as a film director.

What was the creative direction like? In 2005, not only were comic book movies becoming more popular, but also supernatural-themed films like The Mummy and Van Helsing. With a property like the Hellblazer comic, I’m curious if there were any people in the higher up offices wanting one thing and the production team wanting another.

The idea for a Hellblazer movie was around before me, even before Keanu was attached to it, and by the time I got on board, he had been attached to the film. It was something in development for a while, and during the nine months I was working to get the job, I met with Keanu’s manager and showed him my reels of work, convincing him I’d be good to direct. The same process happened with executive producers over the course of those months, and during that time, I began collaborating with screenwriter Akiva Goldsman on what the tone of the film had to be.

It didn’t feel like we were trying to please anybody, it was like we were in our own little bubble. And then Keanu came on board, and this was right after he’d been filming the Matrix movies in Syndey, Australia. Once he came in, it was the three of us locking in and solidifying our version of it. By that point, there was a regime change in production. But I think with Keanu in the role, he had power due to the Matrix movies to let us do our thing.

But in terms of creative direction, we never had anyone wanting specific changes other than insisting that it did not get an R. The truth is, to be truly authentic to Hellblazer and John Constantine, it needed to be an R and not PG-13. But that was the big push, to justify a $96 million budget, we had to make it PG-13. And it was my first movie, so I followed the rules and worked to make it a PG-13. We ended up with an R anyway, which was a drag.

Were there any story points or scenes that you altered to achieve a lighter rating?

No, it was made with the goal of it being PG-13. With that, there are a list of rules, including strong language and nudity, sexuality, blood, gore, etc. We followed all the rules, but where you get into the gray zone is intensity. Whomever is in the MPAA and watches can at any given time look at something in the film and decide it’s too intense to warrant a PG-13.

It was the intensity of the story, and also that people in the film believe that angels and demons are real. That led to the R. So, in Lord of the Rings where there are orcs and elves, which aren’t real, in Constantine people believe angels and demons are real, which the MPAA saw as entirely different.

You’ve made a film career of adapting previously created works, including many of the Hunger Games films and I Am Legend. What was it like breaking into that adaptation process first with Constantine?

One of the graphic novel storylines, “Dangerous Habits,” really drove the DNA on what our version of John Constantine was. That was a story I really loved and what we latched on to. Other than that, we really enjoyed making our version, which is mine, Akiva’s and Keanu’s. There was a freedom in conceptualizing that, with the inspiration from that specific comic book story.

And there was some backlash, less so now, but back then there was some over Keanu’s John Constantine not being English or blonde and having a dark coat instead of a yellow one. Some fans were not happy from the get-go. In general, however, that’s a small percentage of people compared to the global audience who saw the film.

Over the last twenty years, comic book movies have become far more prominent and financially successful. Do you think Constantine, as was originally filmed in 2005, could be made the exact same way today?

I don’t know, it’s hard to say. As a piece of IP, if they were to make it today fresh without any history or baggage as an existing IP, I think people would be nervous to risk that much money on an R-rated movie. I will say because of the fanbase and our movie, here we are twenty years later the closest we’ve ever been to making a sequel, and we know it’s going to be R-rated. So that helps. But without the history of it? I’m not sure.

Well, you mentioned it, so I’ll ask. If you were to make a sequel, would there be any changes in adapting the character, since more people know him now thanks to Matt Ryan’s time in the role?

If we do the sequel, and we really are closer than ever, it’s going to be within our world of Constantine.

Constantine, directed by Francis Lawrence and starring Keanu Reeves, is now available Digitally in 4K Ultra HD and on 4K UHD Blu-ray Disc.