The original 1992 Candyman is one of those rare films that has the power to scare you before you’ve even seen it. Who, as a kid, didn’t try saying his name into a mirror five times, only to immediately regret it?
And when you did see the film, you’d be even more shaken up. Tony Todd’s iconic boogeyman, its very specific sense of place, and the biting social commentary, it was a film not easily forgotten, unlike its lesser sequels, released in 1995 and 1999.
Well, Candyman is set to finally get the sequel it deserves in 2020. Produced by Jordan Peele and his Monkeypaw productions, the new Candyman is directed by Nia DaCosta (recently tapped to direct the MCU’s Captain Marvel 2) and stars Yahya Abdul-Mateen II (Aquaman, Watchmen) as an artist who lives in Chicago’s Cabrini-Green neighbourhood. It’s the same location as the original film, but it’s been gentrified in the intervening years…
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“I was in the fifth or sixth grade, and I just remember Candyman being a part of life,” DaCosta tells Total Film of how she can’t clearly remember the first time she saw Candyman. “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.”
For Abdul-Mateen, it’s the same. “Man, I remember images of Candyman but I don’t remember sitting down to watch the movie,” he says. “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.”
Candyman is set to open in cinemas on October 16, 2020. For much more on the film, grab a copy of the new issue of Total Film magazine – which hits shelves both real and digital from this Friday, August 21. Check out the new covers below; the one on the left is on its way to subscribers right now.
We said his name... #Candyman leads our new issue, which features our massive horror preview! Available on shelves this Friday – and on the way to subscribers now https://t.co/I5nsU9bKsg pic.twitter.com/Ns3YZfl4lYAugust 17, 2020
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