Colman Domingo and Nathan Stewart-Jarrett have joined the cast of the Jordan Peele-produced horror film “Candyman,” which kicks off principal photography in Chicago this week, MGM announced on Tuesday.
Domingo, who stars on “Euphoria” and is known for “Fear the Walking Dead,” and Stewart-Jarrett, known for the series “Misfits,” are starring alongside Yahya Abdul-Mateen II (“Us”) and Teyonah Parris (“If Beale Street Could Talk”) in “Candyman.”
“Candyman” comes from MGM and Peele and Win Rosenfeld’s Monkeypaw Productions, and is a spiritual sequel to the 1992 gothic horror film of the same name. Nia DiCosta (“Little Woods”) is directing from a script written by Peele and Rosenfeld based on “The Forbidden,” an original short story by Clive Barker.
The story involves a murderous soul with a hook for a hand who is accidentally summoned to reality by a grad student researching the monster’s myth. The original legend stems from the Cabrini-Green housing projects on the North Side of Chicago, and the new film will be shot entirely in Chicago, including primarily in the now-gentrified neighborhood.
Universal Pictures is distributing “Candyman” globally with a release slated for June 12, 2020. MGM will co-finance the film with BRON Creative as part of their larger slate deal. Ian Cooper will produce for Monkeypaw. Adam Rosenberg, MGM’s co-president of production, and Tabitha Shick, MGM’s vice president of production, will oversee the project on behalf of the studio.
Abdul-Mateen II can next be seen in the upcoming HBO superhero series “Watchmen,” and he’s also featured in Peele’s “Us,” “Black Mirror,” “The Get Down” and “Aquaman.”
Stewart-Jarrett is best known for his roles on the British shows “Misfits” and “Utopia,” and in 2018, he starred on Broadway in the revival of “Angels in America.”
Deadline first reported the news of Domingo and Stewart-Jarrett’s casting.