Jordan Peele’s latest cinematic venture takes on a horror classic and a R&B staple at the same time.
Come June 12th, a whole new generation of horror movie fans will be chanting the name ‘Candyman’ five times into nearby mirrors, thanks to Jordan Peele. For Destiny’s Child fans, there’s an extra little kick here, too.
Having already created career defining pieces of cinema over the last few years in Get Out and Us, Peele returns this year, working with director Nia DaCosta (Little Woods) on a remake of the 1992 film Candyman.
The trailer for the film, released overnight, does not feature Tony Todd (the original Candyman) on screen, though fans are already hyped for his return. It does however feature the 1999 Destiny’s Child smash, ‘Say My Name’, which has been given a creepy twist, set against images of hooks, bloodshed…all that good stuff.
Watch: Candyman Trailer
The 2020 film is speculated to be a new visualisation of the original, as much as it is a sequel, focused on the same urban legend in a new context. Starring Yahya Abdul-Mateen II (Us, Aquaman) as the now-adult Anthony McCoy from the first film, Candyman in 2020 follow McCoy’s return to Cabrini-Green in Chicago.
A visual artist, McCoy finds himself tied up in an obsession with the Candyman legend. But to what end?
Gentrification and the social issues surrounding it are a big element driving the film, according to DaCosta.
“Gentrification is what helped us reimagine the story because Cabrini-Green is gone,” she said in an interview with The Guardian. “The movie from the 90s has a vision of Cabrini-Green where it’s sort of on its way to being knocked down, so going back there and seeing what’s happened around that area…what we do in our film is talk about the ghosts that are left behind.”
