Nia DaCosta ('Little Woods') is tapped to helm the re-imagining of the classic horror pic, with Jordan Peele being confirmed to write the script.
- Nov 28, 2018
AceShowbiz - A new "Candyman" movie is shaping up, with the key crew members on board the project. After it was rumored that Jordan Peele's circling the re-imagining of the 1992 slasher film, it is now confirmed that he is set to write the upcoming movie along with Win Rosenfeld. Meanwhile, "Little Woods" director and writer Nia DaCosta will serve behind the lens of the remake.
Peele and Rosenfeld will also produce through Monkeypaw Productions, teaming up with MGM which is financing the project. Universal is handling domestic theatrical distribution. Adam Rosenberg, MGM's co-president of production, and Tabitha Shick, MGM's vice president of production, will oversee the movie, with Ian Cooper also producing for Monkeypaw.
"The original was a landmark film for black representation in the horror genre," Peele says in a statement. "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."
Jonathan Glickman, MGM’s President, Motion Picture Group, adds, "We cannot wait for the world to see what the mind-blowing combination of Jordan, Win, and Nia bring to the legend of 'Candyman'. 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."
But instead of a remake, the new "Candyman" movie is described as a "spiritual sequel" to the original film from director Bernard Rose. The 1992 movie follows Helen Lyle (Virginia Madsen), a Chicago graduate student who is researching urban legend about the Candyman for her thesis. She learns that Candyman (Tony Todd) is an artist and son of a slave who had his hand severed and was then murdered with bees by his lover's father.
According to Variety, the new movie returns to the neighborhood where the legend began: the now-gentrified section of Chicago where the Cabrini-Green housing projects once stood. Production is expected to begin next spring, for a June 12, 2020 release.
