Collider and SuperBroMovies have both heard that Lakeith Stanfield is in talks to play the lead protagonist in the new CANDYMAN film that's coming to us from GET OUT writer/director Jordan Peele.
Referred to as a "spiritual sequel" to the 1992 CANDYMAN, this film is set to be directed by Nia DaCosta from a screenplay by Peele and Win Rosenfeld. What we know for sure about the story is that it
returns to the neighborhood where the legend began: the now-gentrified section of Chicago where the Cabrini-Green housing projects once stood.
SuperBroMovies were told more details about the story. We have to treat this as a RUMOR for now, but supposedly if Stanfield signs the deal to star in the film he'll be taking on the role of
Anthony, who is being described as a socially pronounced artist in Chicago who researches the urban legend of Candyman. After investigating the killer’s last known whereabouts, strange killings begin to occur around Anthony. The protagonist will serve a role similar to that of Helen Lyle, the main character of the original movie.
As CANDYMAN fans have pointed out online, Anthony was the name of the baby that got caught up in the Candyman's schemes in the original film. It would be very interesting if the protagonist in the new film is an adult Anthony, and would make this more than just a "spiritual sequel". That's direct sequel territory. Born in 1991, Stanfield is the right age to play an adult Anthony.
Stanfield had a role in GET OUT (that's his GET OUT character pictured above) and has also been in THE PURGE: ANARCHY, STRAIGHT OUTTA COMPTON, Adam Wingard's DEATH NOTE, and THE GIRL IN THE SPIDER'S WEB.
Peele and Rosenfeld are producing CANDYMAN through Peele's company Monkeypaw Productions, with MGM producing and financing and Universal set to handle domestic theatrical distribution. Monkeypaw's Ian Cooper is also producing the film, with Adam Rosenberg and Tabitha Shick overseeing the project for MGM.
There has been no word on whether or not Tony Todd will be playing Candyman in this new film.
CANDYMAN is scheduled to reach theatres on June 12, 2020.