Horror fans have been dealt another blow as word has come in that the new Candyman from director Nia DaCosta has been delayed once again, pushed back until sometime in 2021. After the anticipated movie was first scheduled to release on June 12, the national movie theater shutdown led to its studios, Universal Pictures and MGM, to delay its premiere until Oct. 16. Although many theater chains have slowly begun reopening in various locations, the powers that be have apparently decided it best to resurrect Candyman at a time when it’s safer to watch it on the big screen.
This news is definitely not a shocker, as Candyman is one of many movies originally scheduled to release in 2020, only to be delayed to next year. Also in October, Halloween Kills was set to premiere, but the announcement has already been made to push that slasher sequel back until the fall of 2021. Although other big releases like Tenet and Bill & Ted Face the Music followed through with their fall premieres, there was speculation that Candyman would also be delayed. Horror fans will instead need to stick with the classics to celebrate Halloween month, which includes a return to theaters for Friday the 13th for its 40th anniversary.
Director Nia DaCosta co-wrote the new Candyman with producers Jordan Peele and Win Rosenfeld. Serving as a sequel to the original Candyman, the movie will bring back Tony Todd and Vanessa Estelle Williams to reprise their original roles. The new cast also includes Yahya Abdul-Mateen II, Teyonah Parris, Nathan Stewart-Jarrett, and Colman Domingo. The sequel will follow Abdul-Mateen as a visual artist who investigates the Candyman urban legend, “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.”
The Candyman movie series is based on the original short story “The Forbidden” by Clive Barker. In the original Candyman, written and directed by Bernard Rose, Tony Todd stars as a tormented soul and the subject of a local urban legend. Word is, saying his name five times in the mirror will make him appear. The character is also well remembered for his appearance, which includes being covered with bees and having a hook for a hand. Todd would reprise the role for two sequels in 1995 and 1999, and the horror franchise has laid dormant ever since. It remains to be seen how much Todd will be featured in the new Candyman.
Universal and MGM have not yet named a new release date for Nia DaCosta’s Candyman, but that information is expected to be announced in the coming weeks. As disappointing as this news might be for many horror fans, the good news is that the delay will contribute towards 2021 being an absolutely killer year for new movies. With Halloween Kills coming next fall and Scream 5 kicking off 2022, slasher movies appear to be back on the rise, even if we’ll need to wait a bit longer to watch them. This news comes to us from Variety.
