Keanu Reeves’ Constantine Is Leaving HBO Max Tonight

The 2005 Constantine film starring Keanu Reeves, one of the earliest examples of a Big Two comic book adaptation that was rated R, is leaving HBO Max tonight. The film, which had a fifteenth anniversary panel at last year’s Comic-Con@Home, might be a part of the DC Universe collection at HBO Max, but as with most DC movies produced and released prior to the launch of the streaming platform, Warner Bros. has licensing and streaming deals in place that allow them to move around, rather than being locked in exclusively at HBO Max. The same happens with the Christopher Reeve Superman movies, the Dark Knight trilogy, and other high-demand DC films.

There have long been calls by fans, and sometimes even rumors, for a sequel to the movie. Instead, it seems HBO Max is going to go another way, with a new Constantine project that will tie into J.J. Abrams’s Justice League Dark universe. This will be the second headlining reinvention for Constantine since the Reeves movie, as Matt Ryan took on the role in 2014 for a TV series and subsequently some animation work and a series regular role on The CW’s DC’s Legends of Tomorrow.

We don’t yet know what streaming service will have Constantine next. The listings for Netflix and Hulu — the two sites most likely to have existing deals with Warner Bros. for old blockbusters — don’t list it as coming in July. That means if you don’t have a DVD lying around, or feel like paying to rent or own it digitally, tonight might be your best day for a little bit to jump online and see Constantine for free.

In Constantine, “As a suicide survivor, demon hunter John Constantine (Keanu Reeves) has literally been to hell and back — and he knows that when he dies, he’s got a one-way ticket to Satan’s realm unless he can earn enough goodwill to climb God’s stairway to heaven. While helping policewoman Angela Dodson (Rachel Weisz) investigate her identical twin’s apparent suicide, Constantine becomes caught up in a supernatural plot involving both demonic and angelic forces. Based on the DC/Vertigo Hellblazer comics.”

Besides Reeves, Constantine also stars Rachel Weisz, Shia LaBeouf, Tilda Swinton, Pruitt Taylor Vince, Djimon Hounsou, Gavin Rossdale, and Peter Stormare. The film earned $230.9 million when it debuted after receiving mostly negative reviews from critics.

“I’ve always wanted to play John Constantine again,” Reeves said in a 2019 interview. “I just love that world, too, and I love that character. I just had a blast playing a character and [playing] in that world.”