The remake of 1992’s Candyman, produced by Jordan Peele and directed by Nia DaCosta, has officially gone into production in Chicago.
The announcement coincided with some new casting details. Deadline received this exclusive information, and reported that Nathan Stewart-Jarrett (Misfits) and Colman Domingo (Fear the Walking Dead) have entered the cast. The two actors have joined Yahya Abdul-Mateen II (Us) and Teyonah Parris (If Beale Street Could Talk) in MGM and Peele’s Candyman reboot, which has begun principal photography this week in Chicago. There is no word on whether or not Tony Todd, the original Candyman, will return.
The original movie followed the urban legend of the titular character and starred a former slave-turned-artist who fell in love with a white woman and fathered a child during the late 1800s. Because of this forbidden relationship, his lover’s father hired a lynch mob to kill him. He was smeared with honey, covered in bees, and burned to death, and his ashes were scattered upon what became the present-day Cabrini-Green housing project. The story of his death became an urban legend, and by saying his name five times in the mirror, he manifests and “adds” you to it. The horror flick was popular enough to spawn two sequels.
Universal Pictures will distribute Candyman globally with the U.S. release date set for June 12th, 2020. We’ll keep you posted on any further developments.