The Jordan Peele-produced remake of ‘Candyman’ has found its director in Nia Dacosta. Dacosta is something of a newcomer, having only directed one feature film, the Western family drama ‘Little Woods’ starring Lily James and Tessa Thompson, which won awards on the festival circuit earlier this year. Keep in mind, Peele’s film directing debut, last year’s low budget ‘Get Out,’ became a multi-million dollar success and won him an Academy Award for his screenplay.
The new ‘Candyman’ is described as a “spiritual sequel” to the original and is set in the same location as the 1992 first film. The big difference is that the Cabrini-Green housing projects, located in Chicago, has now been gentrified.
Jonathan Glickman, MGM Motion Picture Group’s president, stated:
“We cannot wait for the world to see what the mind-blowing combination of Jordan, Win, and Nia bring to the legend of Candyman. They have created a story that will not only pay reverence to Clive Barker’s haunting and brilliant source material, but is also thoroughly modern and will bring in a whole new generation of fans.”
Peele also stated:
“The original was a landmark film for black representation in the horror genre. Alongside ‘Night of the Living Dead,’ ‘Candyman’ was a major inspiration for me as a filmmaker — and to have a bold new talent like Nia at the helm of this project is truly exciting. We are honored to bring the next chapter in the ‘Candyman’ canon to life and eager to provide new audiences with an entry point to Clive Barker’s legend.”
The original ‘Candyman’ was based on Clive Barker’s story ‘The Forbidden’, but the screenplay was by the movie’s director Bernard Rose. The film starred Virginia Madsen as inquisitive grad student Helen Lyle, while Tony Todd portrayed the titular killer, originally the son of a slave who became a successful businessman but who was tortured and murdered by a lynch mob after marrying and impregnating a white woman. Last month, Todd voiced his support for Peele and his reboot.
The first movie spawned two direct-to-video sequels. The new picture will begin production in the spring to be released in theaters on June 12, 2020. Universal is releasing the new film.
Source: Variety
