Keanu Reeves did his best Oliver Twist impression to convince Warner Bros. to greenlight a “Constantine” sequel.

The actor revealed (complete with an Oliver Twist accent) that he asked, “Can I please have some more?” to Warner Bros. every year since “Constantine” was released in 2005.

“I don’t know if it was unfinished business but it was definitely a role that I loved, and I thought that Francis Lawrence, the director, did such amazing work. I loved playing that character, and I really enjoyed the film,” Reeves told Total Film (via MovieWeb). “I was like, [adopts Oliver Twist voice,] ‘Can I please have some more?’ … I kept asking almost every year. I’d be like, ‘Can I please?’ [and] they’d be like, ‘No, no!’”

As for the sequel, which was confirmed in September 2022, Reeves said, “It’s exciting. It’s almost like an open playground that we can hopefully cook something up and play in, and I guess get out of the playground and prepare a meal, but I’m looking forward to it, and hopefully it can happen. You don’t know how these things go. But I’m definitely going to try my darnedest to try and realize that dream.”

Director Lawrence will return to helm the feature with a script by Akiva Goldsman. J.J. Abrams will also executive produce through his Bad Robot banner.

Lawrence admitted that he had to be “convinced” to revisit the property but signed on after it was clear Reeves and screenwriter Goldsman could have “control” over the character. Lawrence told The Wrap that the sequel will also have a hard R-rating “which is, I think, what people always wanted originally,” he added.

“We finally have been sort of given the permission to go ahead and do our version of Constantine because people are always saving him to be part of some shared universe thing or some TV thing or whatever,” Lawrence said, citing the “craziness with DC” amid the new appointments of heads Peter Safran and James Gunn. “And now I think people realize that there might really be an appetite for another version of the Keanu Constantine.”

The original “Constantine” starred Rachel Weisz, Shia LaBeouf, Tilda Swinton, Pruitt Taylor Vince, Djimon Hounsou, and Gavin Rossdale. Additional casting for the sequel has yet to be announced; it’s unclear if any other actors will reprise their respective roles.

In addition to “Constantine,” Reeves will be directed by Jonah Hill for the film “Outcome,” which Hill also co-wrote with Ezra Woods.

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