Due to the global health crisis at hand, most U.S. theaters are expected to remain closed through most of the summer, Universal Pictures, which has already pushed the latest entries in the F9 and the Minions franchises back to 2021, has decided to push back their upcoming Candyman sequel/reboot from June 12 to September 25.
The decision comes just a day after Paramount Pictures made a similar move to exit June, moving Tom Cruise’s highly anticipated Top Gun: Maverick from late June to December 23, and a few weeks after Warner Bros. opted to shift Patty Jenkins’ Wonder Woman 1984 to August.
The only films still slated to open in June now are Disney’s Soul, Universal’s The King of Staten Island, Lionsgate’s Fatale and Focus Features’ Kajillionaire, but it seems increasingly likely they’ll be moved back as well and/or sent to a streaming service within the next few days.
Candyman will now open opposite Aaron Sorkin’s The Trial of the Chicago 7 starring Sacha Baron Cohen (The Spy) & Eddie Redmayne (Fantastic Beasts), Alan Taylor’s The Many Saints of Newark starring Alessandro Nivola (Jurassic Park III) & Jon Bernthal (The Punisher), Edgar Wright’s Last Night in Soho starring Thomasin McKenzie (Jojo Rabbit) & Anya Taylor-Joy (The New Mutants), and Klaus Menzel’s What About Love starring Sharon Stone (The Laundromat) & Iain Glen (Game of Thrones).
The upcoming Nia DaCosta-directed horror remake/spiritual sequel will star Yahya Abdul-Mateen II (Watchmen; Aquaman), Teyonah Parris (WandaVision; Empire), Nathan Stewart-Jarrett (Dracula; The Kid Who Would Be King) and Colman Domingo (Fear the Walking Dead; Selma) in the main roles. Original franchise star Tony Todd (The Flash; Final Destination) has also been heavily rumored to appear, reprising his iconic role as Daniel Robitaille, a.k.a. the Candyman.
Watch the trailer below:
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Universal has released this statement about the film:
Don’t say his name.
This summer, Oscar® winner Jordan Peele unleashes a fresh take on the blood-chilling urban legend that your friend’s older sibling probably told you about at a sleepover: Candyman. Rising filmmaker Nia DaCosta (Little Woods) directs this contemporary incarnation of the cult classic.
For as long as residents can remember, the housing projects of Chicago’s Cabrini Green neighborhood were terrorized by a word-of-mouth ghost story about a supernatural killer with a hook for a hand, easily summoned by those daring to repeat his name five times into a mirror.
In present day, a decade after the last of the Cabrini towers were torn down, visual artist Anthony McCoy (Yahya Abdul-Mateen II; HBO’s Watchmen, Us) and his girlfriend, gallery director Brianna Cartwright (Teyonah Parris; If Beale Street Could Talk, The Photograph), move into a luxury loft condo in Cabrini, now gentrified beyond recognition and inhabited by upwardly mobile millennials.
With Anthony’s painting career on the brink of stalling, a chance encounter with a Cabrini Green old-timer (Colman Domingo; HBO’s Euphoria, Assassination Nation) exposes Anthony to the tragically horrific nature of the true story behind Candyman. Anxious to maintain his status in the Chicago art world, Anthony begins to explore these macabre details in his studio as fresh grist for paintings, unknowingly opening a door to a complex past that unravels his own sanity and unleashes a terrifyingly viral wave of violence that puts him on a collision course with destiny.
From Universal Pictures and Metro Goldwyn Mayer Pictures, in association with BRON Creative, and Jordan Peele and Win Rosenfeld’s Monkeypaw Productions, Candyman is directed by DaCosta, and is produced by Ian Cooper (Us), Rosenfeld and Peele. The screenplay is by Peele & Rosenfeld and DaCosta. The film is based on the 1992 film Candyman, written by Bernard Rose, and the short story “The Forbidden” by Clive Barker. The film’s executive producers are David Kern, Aaron L. Gilbert and Jason Cloth.
The Geek is a working screenwriter, director and screenwriting instructor.
