Back in September, Bloody Disgusting had reported that Jordan Peele was looking to produce a reboot of Bernard Rose's Candyman, a film adapted from Clive Barker‘s “Books of Blood” short story “The Forbidden." Today, those discussions have been confirmed with the film being billed as a "spiritual sequel" to the original, returns to the neighborhood where the legend began: the now-gentrified section of Chicago where the Cabrini-Green housing projects once stood.
Multiple sources, including Bloody Disgusting and Variety, report that Nia DaCosta (Little Woods) is set to direct with Jordan Peele producing through his Monkeypaw Productions. MGM will also produce and finance the film, with Universal handling domestic theatrical distribution.
“The original was a landmark film for black representation in the horror genre,” said Peele. “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.”
There's no word if Tony Todd will reprise his role as the titular character but we'll be sure to keep CryptTeaze readers up to date on this project as it develops.
The new Candyman is slated for a theatrical release from Universal Pictures on June 12th, 2020, with production planned to start in the spring of 2019.
