A new video for Candyman features co-writer/director Nia DaCosta and co-writer/producer Jordan Peele discussing the reality of the urban legend. The horror franchise first began in 1992 with the acclaimed adaptation of the Clive Barker short "The Forbidden" from his Books of Blood collection. The titular malevolent spirit was famously brought to life by Tony Todd across three films and has frequently been credited as his most iconic performance and one of the most iconic villains in the horror genre.
The new Candyman will act as a direct sequel to the 1992 film and center on Anthony McCoy, the boy saved from the Candyman and a fire by Helen Lyle, now an adult who moves back into the Chicago neighborhood of Cabrini Green that was once a crime-ridden housing project when he was an infant but is now a gentrified complex of condos. As he looks to revitalize his art and break through his creative block, he begins exploring the Candyman legend, only to discover a dark path of secrets that will unravel his sanity and unleash an unspeakable evil onto the world. Aquaman star Yahya Abdul-Mateen II leads the cast that also includes Teyonah Parris, Nathan Stewart-Jarrett, Colman Domingo, Vanessa Estelle Williams reprising her role of Anthony's mother Anne-Marie and Todd rumored to be returning as the Candyman.
With just under two weeks remaining until the film's release, Universal has unveiled a new video for Candyman. The video features DaCosta and Peele reflecting on the legacy of the titular urban legend and its ties to reality outside of the original horror film and how this thematically ties into the new film. Check out the new video below:
Bernard Rose's Candyman film proved to be one of the rare genre efforts at the time of its release for its willingness to explore deeper themes of racism and warping historical facts. Unlike Barker's original story, however, these various themes were amplified by Rose and Todd's efforts to expand the backstory for the character from what little was revealed in the source material, namely his murder stemming from his interracial affair with a wealthy landowner's daughter in the 1800s. Though the trailers for the new film have indicated a change in the origins of the Candyman, they also show that DaCosta, Peele and co-writer/producer Win Rosenfeld are doing so with the right intentions in mind.
As DaCosta and Peele discuss in the new Candyman video, the legend of the titular spirit is one that was already rooted in many people's minds prior to the release of the original film and is one that has evolved with the times. Reflecting the very real issues of police brutality and the systemic racism still prominent in law enforcement, the creative team behind the film certainly look to be bringing their unique and insightful voices to the material for a terrifying new chapter. Only time will tell what they have in store for audiences when Candyman arrives in theaters on August 27.
Source: Universal
