Universal has delayed the upcoming Candyman sequel from its original October 16 premiere to sometime in 2021.
THR reports that MGM, Universal, and the filmmakers are committed to a theatrical release for Candyman, which is why they decided to push it back to next year, presumably hoping the coronavirus pandemic will have died down a bit by then. Right now, we only have a vague 2021 release window, but it's said that we'll get a replacement date in a matter of weeks.
Candyman 2021 is being produced by Jordan Peele under his Monkeypaw productions banner. Nia DaCosta, who directed Little Woods and Top Boy and was recently tapped to direct the MCU's Captain Marvel 2, is directing. Peele and DaCosta wrote the script alongside Win Rosenfeld. The story centers around Yahya Abdul-Mateen II (Aquaman, Watchmen), who plays an artist living in the same, now gentrified, neighborhood from the original movie.
"I was in the fifth or sixth grade, and I just remember Candyman being a part of life," DaCosta told our sister publication Total Film. "Like legend, lore. We didn't dare say his name in the mirror. For me, Candyman felt so real. It felt like he could totally exist in the projects by my house."
Abdul-Mateen has a similar reverence for the titular entity. "He lived in my imagination, in the retelling of Candyman. I grew up with Candyman not being a figure from television or movies, but with the possibility of him being a real threat within the house. The dread of Candyman was palpable."
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