If you were looking forward to the upcoming October release of CANDYMAN, you were pretty bummed by the news that the film was moving off its October date to a still to be determined date in 2021. This was after the film already pushed off its June release date due to the theater closures caused by the COVID-19 pandemic. Some studios are shifting their planned theatrical releases to VOD and while CANDYMAN looks perfect for the kind of release, director Nia DaCosta recently explained why CANDYMAN will hit theaters first rather than going straight to home viewing.
DaCosta took to Twitter to explain why a theatrical distribution model was important to CANDYMAN'S release and her reasoning pretty much echoes what others have said when their films' release dates have been delayed due to the pandemic:
While it's disappointing that we won't be seeing CANDYMAN this year, it does make sense that the film decided to abandon its planned October release. Although theaters are reopening and movies have been testing the box office waters, not having markets like Los Angeles and New York in play is really hurting some of these films from reaching their true box office potential. At first glance, the $20.2 million opening of TENET looks decent considering we're in the middle of a pandemic but its 66.8% slide during its second weekend is troubling and showing other studios it's just not worth releasing some of their buzzed-about films until things get closer to being back to normal.
The new CANDYMAN takes the events of the original 1992 movie and brings the legend into the 2020s. The story takes audiences back to Chicago's Cabrini Green neighborhood where the legend of Candyman is still very much alive. Visual artist Anthony McCoy, played by Yahya Abdul-Mateen II, moves into a condo in Cabrini and finds himself becoming entangled in the legend. It soon becomes clear that Candyman is more than just a spooky tale and a strange relationship begins between the supernatural killer and McCoy. Nia DaCosta directs from a script penned by herself, Jordan Peele, and Win Rosenfeld, and the film also stars Teyonah Parris, Nathan Stewart-Jarrett, Colman Domingo, Vanessa A. Williams, Rebecca Spence, Cassie Kramer, and Tony Todd.
Do YOU agree with CANDYMAN sticking to a theatrical release?