Yet another big summer release has been pushed back to much later in the year.Candyman, the highly-anticipated sequel in the classic horror franchise, has been moved back a full three months by Universal Pictures. The movie is directed by Nia DaCosta and produced byGet OutandUsfilmmaker Jordan Peele. This comes as every studio is having to retool its release calendar as movie theaters remain closed in the U.S. and around the world.
Candymanwas originally supposed tohit theaters on June 12and was positioned to be perhaps the biggest summer horror offering at the box office. Universal has moved it, instead, to September 25. The studio had another title,Praise This, set for that date previously. It has not been rescheduled as of this writing. Universal had previously delayed other expected blockbusters such asF9, which was pushed back a full year, as well asMinions: The Rise of GruandSing 2.
The originalCandyman, released in 1992, spawned a franchise, but one that has been dormant for years now. The upcoming sequel, even after the release of the first trailer, remains largely mysterious. Specifically, horror fans are curious as to how involved original star Tony Todd will be. Jordan Peele, Win Rosenfeld and Nia DaCosta co-wrote the screenplay. DaCosta, taking to Twitter, took the release date shift in stride by making a joke about the situation. Here’s what DaCosta had to say in her tweet.
“I have a confession: Jordan Peele’s Candyman is actually moving to September becauseNia DaCosta just bought Skyrim.”
Canydymancenters on the housing projects of Chicago’s Cabrini Green neighborhood that has long been terrorized by a word-of-mouth ghost story about a supernatural killer with a hook for a hand, who can be summoned by those whosay his name five times into a mirror.
A decade after the last of the Cabrini towers were torn down, artist Anthony McCoy (Yahya Abdul-Mateen) and his girlfriend, gallery director Brianna Cartwright (Teyonah Parris), move intoa luxury loft condo in the now-gentrified area. Anthony’s painting career is on the brink of stalling, but a chance encounter with an old-timer of the area (Colman Domingo) exposes him to the story ofCandyman. Eager to maintain his status in the Chicago art world, Anthony begins to explore the myth in his studio, whichopens a door to a complex past, unleashing a wave of violence.
It isn’t certain how long movie theaters will remain closed, which has left studios scrambling to do the best they can with what information they have. The situation has proved difficult to predict. Virtually every major summer movie for 2020 has been pushed back this year, includingMorbius,Ghostbusters: Afterlife,Top Gun: Maverick,Wonder Woman 1984and many more. Some have found new dates in later 2020 or early 2021, while others remain on uncertain ground. We’ll be sure to keep you posted as the situation develops. This news was previously reported byVariety.
