By MICHAEL GINGOLD
There was much excitement when GET OUT auteur Jordan Peele revealed his involvement in a follow-up to the 1992 Clive Barker-based classic CANDYMAN, and now it’s moving forward with a director attached and debut date set.
MGM has announced that it is partnering with Peele and Win Rosenfeld’s Monkeypaw Productions to produce a “spiritual sequel” to CANDYMAN, which will return to the now-gentrified area of Chicago where the Cabrini-Green housing projects once stood. Up-and-coming filmmaker Nia DaCosta, whose debut feature LITTLE WOODS was an award-winner at this year’s Tribeca Film Festival, will direct from a script by Peele and Rosenfeld. Shooting is planned to begin next spring, and Universal Pictures will release in the U.S. on June 12, 2020. No casting has yet been announced.
“The original was a landmark film for black representation in the horror genre,” Peele says. “Alongside NIGHT OF THE LIVING DEAD, CANDYMAN was a major inspiration for me as 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.”
“We cannot wait for the world to see what the mind-blowing combination of Jordan, Win and Nia bring to the legend of Candyman,” says MGM president Jonathan Glickman. “They have created a story that will not only pay reverence to Clive Barker’s haunting and brilliant source material but is also thoroughly modern and will bring in a whole new generation of fans.” We’ll keep you posted on further developments.
