Brought to you, in part, by the man behind Get Out and Us.
Candyman is one of the great horror films.
Patient, relevant, and genuinely terrifying; the 1992 chiller made a star of Tony Todd and introduced an iconic spectre into the pop culture canon.
Though it’s nice that the character wasn’t ruined by about 10 increasingly ridiculous and cheap sequels – we’re looking at you, Hellraiser (and many others) – it’s fair to say that Candyman never fully got his due.
Yes, there are actually two sequels, but nobody ever talks about them so let’s just pretend they never happened, okay?
Point is, Candyman is ripe for a proper retelling, and we just might get a worthy one.
Jordan Peele, he of Get Out and Us fame, is overseeing a “spiritual sequel” via his MonkeyPaw Productions company, with Nia DaCosta set to direct.
Yahya Abdul-Mateen II, most recently seen in Aquaman and Black Mirror, has signed on to the project, though the filmmakers have been quick to stress that he’s “not replacing” Tony Todd, so it’s not certain that he’s playing the titular boogeyman.
In any case, the talent assembled so far gives fans room for hope. Details remain scarce, but some interesting new information on the film – set for release in 2020 – has emerged.
Monkeypaw Creative Director Ian Cooper was speaking on a panel over the weekend, and naturally enough, questions about the upcoming reboot came his way.
Per Deadline, the new Candyman “will address toxic fandom” in some form.
“We talk a lot about fans and the idea of appeasing fans and when you do that and how do you do that and when do you not do that,” Cooper said.
“I think my issue with fandom is that it’s really problematic. It’s probably the most problematic thing facing the genre.”
“It typically comes with a dogma that is abrasive and that is more resistant to change and permutation than you would think,” Cooper added.
“I think what we’re trying to do with Candyman is both be mischievous in how we address the relationship to the first film but also be very satisfying.”
Given Jordan Peele’s social and meta commentary in both Get Out and Us, that approach makes a certain kind of sense.
Whether that means Candyman hooking people who start nonsensical petitions remains to be seen, though.
Cooper also noted that the new film isn’t just for fans of the original, but for newcomers, too.
“In a broad sense of the word, this film will stand alone if you’ve never heard of a film called Candyman and will dovetail in a pretty complicated and interesting way to the original,” he offered.
“In short, I think this will really fit in with what we’re doing with Us and did with Get Out in a way that will be circuitous.”
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