The 1992 slasher horror phenomenon film Candyman is finally getting remake. Universal and MGM just dropped the first official trailer of the new Candyman, directed by Nia DaCosta (Little Woods) and reimagined by Jordan Peele, who has garnered immense recognition for his critically acclaimed horror pictures Get Out and Us.
This new Candyman stars Yahya Abdul-Mateen II (Us), Teyonah Parris (If Beale Street Could Talk), Nathan Stewart-Jarrett (Misfits) and Colman Domingo (Fear the Walking Dead). The movie takes place in Chicago’s Cabrini-Green housing projects and, despite sharing the original film’s significant horrific and gory elements, will revolve around the gentrification of the North Side neighborhood. According to Deadline, DaCosta explains the rationale behind this message of gentrification, stating that “gentrification is what helped us to reimagine the story because Cabrini-Green is gone.” She adds that “what we talk about in the film are the ghosts that have been left behind because of gentrification.”
The trailer begins with a group of young friends repeating the name Candyman five times in the mirror to see if the urban legend is true. Ironically, a slowed down version of Destiny Child’s Say My Name plays in the background. What ensues is a series of city-wide mysterious, bloody attacks and the supernatural killer’s menacing-looking hooks for hands. Meanwhile, visual artist Anthony McCoy (Abdul-Mateen II) attempts to unravel Candyman’s past through his paintings, only to find his own sanity unravelling and unleashing a new wave of violence onto the gentrified city.
Reports about whether specific dark details from the original Candyman will make its way into this remake are unknown. In the original movie, the urban legend of the titular character starred Tony Todd as Candyman, a former slave turned artist who fell in love with a white woman and fathered a child during the late 1800s. This forbidden relationship caused his lover’s father to hire a lynch mob to kill him. He was smeared with honey, attacked by bees, and was burned to death with his ashes scattered upon what became present-day Cabrini-Green. The story of his death became an urban legend and, by saying his name five times in the mirror, he comes and murders you.
Candyman opens in theaters June 12, 2020. Watch the thrilling trailer below:
Leave a Comment