J.J. Abrams' Constantine Series Gets Promising Update

By Nicole Drum

Last week, the future of a lot of DC live-action projects was called into question when it was announced that HBO Max was shelving its Batgirl movie as part of cost-saving measures for Warner Bros. Discovery followed by additional shifts and changes as well, including the announcement of a planned merging of HBO Max and discovery+ streaming platforms and a 10-year plan for DC Films.  While some fans are concerned about the future of their favorite projects, there's one long in the works series that is getting a more promising update: J.J. Abrams' Constantine series.

According to a report from Deadline, Constantine is one of the projects for HBO Max that is "on solid ground and moving along". There weren't any additional details provided, either about what "moving along" entails or the series itself, but it feels like a bit of good news in the wake of what has been a roller coast of things. The report also mentions Madame X as still being in development.

Constantine going forward would be good news both for DC fans and for Abrams. Earlier this year, it was reported that Warner Bros. Discover was frustrated with Abrams' lack of output in connection to Bad Robot's $250 million overall deal and in June it was announced that HBO had passed on Demimonde, Abrams' first original television idea since 2008's Fringe. That series, which would have starred Danielle Deadwyler (Station Eleven) in a story about the extraordinary lengths a family will go to to find their missing child, was reportedly cancelled over concerns about its huge budget.

Last week during the Warner Bros. Discovery second quarter earnings call, CEO David Zaslav revealed that the company has a 10-year plan for the DC Universe.

"Our ambition is to bring Warners back and to produce great high-quality films, and as we look at the opportunities that we have broadly, DC is one of the top of the list for us," Zaslav explained. "You look at Batman, Superman, Wonder Woman, Aquaman — these are brands that are known everywhere in the world. The ability to drive those all over the world with great story is a big opportunity for us. We have done a reset. We've restructured the business. We're going to focus."

Zaslav then went on to detail how DC Films will mirror the progress Marvel Studios President Kevin Feige has accomplished with their competitor.

"There will be a team with a 10-year plan focusing just on DC. It's very similar to the structure that Alan Horn and Bob Iger put together, very effectively, with Kevin Feige at Disney," he added. "We think that we could build a long-term much stronger, sustainable growth business out of DC. And as part of that, we're going to focus on quality. We're not going to release any film before it's ready. We're not going to release a film to make a quarter. We're not going to release a film unless the focus is going to be, 'How do we make each of these films in general as good as possible?' But DC is something that we think we could make better, and we're focused on it now. We have some great DC films coming up — Black Adam, Shazam, and Flash – and we're working on all of those. We're very excited about them."

What do you think about this update on Abrams' Constantine? Let us know your thoughts in the comment section.

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