Universal Pictures, MGM and Monkeypaw Productions are moving Nia DaCosta’s “Candyman” from its original release date on Oct. 16 to an unset date in 2021, it was announced on Friday.
The studio and production partners are committed to a theatrical release for the film during a time when movie theaters have closed and film distribution has suffered due to the ongoing coronavirus pandemic. The film was originally set for a June 12 release, and the distributors are now looking for optimal release dates in the upcoming year.
Jordan Peele, Win Rosenfeld and DaCosta wrote the screenplay for the sequel of the 1992 film. Ian Cooper, Rosenfeld and Peele produce.
Peele frames the story of the supernatural killer with a hook for a hand named Candyman as a demon that has haunted Chicago’s Cabrini Green neighborhood for decades. But in the present day, a decade after the last of the Cabrini towers were torn down, visual artist Anthony McCoy (Yahya Abdul-Mateen II) and his girlfriend, gallery director Brianna Cartwright (Teyonah Parris), move into a luxury loft condo in Cabrini, now gentrified beyond recognition and inhabited by upwardly mobile millennials.
It’s only when Anthony’s artwork of the legend unknowingly opens a door to a complex past that unravels his own sanity and unleashes a terrifyingly viral wave of violence that puts him on a collision course with destiny.
Tony Todd and Vanessa Estelle Williams are reprising their roles from the original film, with Colman Domingo and Nathan Stewart-Jarrett also starring.
“2 Hearts” with Jacob Elordi will still open in theaters on Oct. 16