5 things to know about the ‘Candyman’ sequel coming from Jordan Peele
This story comes with a challenge.
Go stand in front of your bathroom mirror and say “Candyman” five times.
We’ll just wait right here to see if you come back alive.
Back? Then you’ll want to know that a new “Candyman” sequel is coming, a version being hyped for a new generation of Candyman fans.
Jordan Peele, who won an Oscar this year for the screenplay of the horror film, “Get Out,” is producing and co-writing the reboot of the 1992 horror film, Deadline Hollywood reports.
“The original movie adapted the Clive Barker story ‘The Forbidden’ and told of the legend of the Candyman, a murdered son of a slave who is now a supernatural killer, and his unique relationship with a white grad student working on a thesis on urban legends, all set against the backdrop of a poor Chicago housing project,” according to The Hollywood Reporter.
Urban legend has it that the murderous Candyman is summoned by standing in front of a mirror and saying his name five times, if you dare.
Who knows how many slumber parties and sleepovers over the past two decades have included a Candyman dare.
Here are things to know about Peele’s reboot.
1. Nia DaCosta will direct. DaCosta’s indie modern Western, “Little Woods,” premiered at the Tribeca Film Festival this year where it earned the Nora Ephron Award, according to Deadline Hollywood.
The choice of a female director is timely. In October, Jason Blum — who produced “Get Out,” “Paranormal Activity” and the latest “Halloween” reboot — got slammed for comments he made about women not being inclined to direct horror movies. He later called the comments a “stupid mistake.”
“Coming on the heels of Jason Blum’s ridiculous remarks that it’s hard to find female directors for horror films, it’s encouraging to see a woman helming a major horror franchise — especially since she’s a woman of color, who are still vastly underrepresented behind the scenes,” Gizmodo writes about DaCosta.
2. It’s a “spiritual sequel.” We don’t know what that means, yet. But this version won’t have anything to do with two previous sequels, “Candyman: Farewell to the Flesh” in 1995 and “Candyman 3: Day of the Dead,” in 1999 which went direct to video, according to Deadline Hollywood.
“The original was a landmark film for black representation in the horror genre,” Peele said in a statement to the Hollywood Reporter.
“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.”
3. It will be set in Chicago, again. The movie “returns to the neighborhood where the legend began: the now-gentrified section of Chicago where the Cabrini-Green housing projects once stood,” Variety reports.
“The original film took place in and around a high-rise housing project in Chicago,” writes Gizmodo. Taking place in the same location allows for “an opportunity to talk about the impact gentrification has had on urban communities.”
4. No word on Tony Todd. Since word got out that a “Candyman” sequel involving Peele was in the works, fans of the original have been hoping to hear that Todd, who portrayed the first Candyman, would be involved. But nothing’s been said publicly about that, and no casting news has been announced.
For ardent fans, there is no other Candyman.
5. It has a summer release date. Production is expected to begin in the spring, Variety reports, and the movie is set to debut June 12, 2020. MGM Pictures, Win Rosenfeld and Peele’s Monkeypaw Productions are producing, according to Deadline Hollywood.
This story was originally published November 28, 2018 at 3:39 PM.