Earlier this week, Aquaman‘s Yahya Abdul-Mateen II was reported to be joining the upcoming Candyman, with The Hollywood Reporter revealing that If Beale Street Could Talk star Teyonah Parris is in talks to star alongside him. Abdul-Mateen would be playing an artist who investigates the urban legend of Candyman, with Parris potentially playing his girlfriend.
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The original 1992 film was adapted from a story by Clive Barker. When grad student Helen Lyle (Virginia Madsen) begins working on a thesis looking at urban legends, she encounters the tale of the Candyman — the vengeful spirit of a hook-handed slave, who, it is said, can be summoned by saying his name five times in the mirror. As her research leads her into the bowels of Chicago’s deprived housing projects and deeper into the Candyman‘s world, Helen learns that some legends are best left alone.
In the years following Candyman‘s release, the Cabrini-Green housing project began to be demolished, with the last original building finally being destroyed in 2011. The area is now occupied by high-end condos, a development the new film will embrace for its plot. Variety describes that the new film “returns to the neighborhood where the legend began: the now-gentrified section of Chicago where the Cabrini-Green housing projects once stood.”
The film is described as a “spiritual sequel,” which will likely borrow elements from the original narrative while not actively negating the events of the previous sequels in the series.
Tony Todd played the titular character in the first three films and, while he might make an appearance in the new film, gave the new production his blessing regardless. The actor shared on Twitter, “Cheers to [Candyman,] a woderful [sic] character Ive [sic] lived w [sic] for 25 years. He’s brought grace and glory & a beautiful boatload of friends & famly [sic].”
He added that he was “honored that the spirit of [Daniel Robatiell and the Cabrini Green neighborhood] Rises again. Truth to power! Blessings 2 the cast & crew.”
Stay tuned for details on the new Candyman, which is slated to hit theaters on June 12, 2020.
Are you looking forward to the new film? Let us know in the comments below or hit up @TheWolfman on Twitter to talk all things horror and Star Wars!
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