Well, don’t look for Candyman at your neighborhood theater next month. To no one’s surprise, it just won’t happen.
The director of the highly anticipated Candyman reboot pointed to the struggles movie theaters are still experiencing during the COVID-19 crisis as the reason behind the decision to delay the film’s release–once again.
Universal Pictures’ Candyman–described as a “spiritual sequel” to the original 1992 horror movie–now is expected to hit theaters sometime in 2021, according to comicbook.com. The film had already been bumped back from its original release date of June 12 to Sept. 25 and then to Oct. 16. Such are the perils of 2020.
Director Nia DaCosta this week explained the rationale in a tweet. “We made Candyman to be seen in theaters,” the filmmaker wrote. “Not just for the spectacle, but because the film is about community and stories–how they shape each other, how they shape us.”
DaCosta added that she wanted her film to be viewed in a community setting since it deals with “the collective experience of trauma and joy, suffering and triumph and the stories we tell around it.”
The reboot–which received an R-rating for “bloody horror violence and language”–was written by DaCosta, Jordan Peele (who also serves as producer) and Win Rosenfeld.
The storyline follows artist Anthony McCoy and his girlfriend Brianna, who move to an area in Chicago where the Cabrini Green housing projects once stood. A Cabrini old-timer exposes Anthony to the true story of the Candyman, a “supernatural killer with a hook for a hand, summoned by those daring to repeat his name five times in a mirror.” And thereby hangs a tale.
The film stars Yahya Abdul-Mateen II, Teyonah Parris, Nathan Stewart-Jarrett, Colman Domingo, Tony Todd, Vanessa Estelle Williams, Rebecca Spence and Cassie Kramer.
The original Candyman–based on Clive Barker’s short story The Forbidden–was written and directed by Bernard Rose and starred Tony Todd and Virginia Madsen. The film–which gave birth to two other sequels–grossed $26 million in the U.S. on a budget of $8 million.
Keep reading Horror News Network for any further updates (or delays) on Candyman.
Click here for more on the Candyman franchise.
