Nia DaCosta’s Candyman won’t be haunting theaters until 2021

Last Updated on August 2, 2021

What's this? Yet another film that won't be seen in theaters this year? Are we done being surprised? Hot on the heels of Warner Bros. pushing the release of WONDER WOMAN 1984 comes the news that MGM and Universal have pushed back the release of Nia DaCosta's CANDYMAN from October 16th to some unspecified date in 2021. The studios plan on confirming the new date in the coming weeks. This isn't the first time that CANDYMAN has felt the wrath of COVID-19 as the film was originally set to hit theaters in June before it was pushed back for the first time.

This new incarnation of CANDYMAN takes place a decade after the housing projects of Chicago's Cabrini Green were torn down, but the legend of Candyman still thrives among the residents. When visual artist Anthony McCoy (Yahya Abdul-Mateen II) and his girlfriend Brianna Cartright (Teyonah Parris) move into a luxury loft condo in the now gentrified Cabrini, they soon discover the true story behind horrific legend of Candyman. While I was certainly looking forward to this new take on CANDYMAN, I also wasn't about to be heading to the theater anytime soon, so I'll just keep my finger's crossed that 2021 shows some improvement. A man can dream.

The official synopsis for CANDYMAN:

For as long as residents can remember, the housing projects of Chicago’s Cabrini Green neighborhood were terrorized by a word-of-mouth ghost story about a supernatural killer with a hook for a hand, easily summoned by those daring to repeat his name five times into a mirror. In present day, a decade after the last of the Cabrini towers were torn down, visual artist Anthony McCoy (Yahya Abdul-Mateen II; HBO’s Watchmen) and his girlfriend, gallery director Brianna Cartwright (Teyonah Parris; If Beale Street Could Talk), move into a luxury loft condo in Cabrini, now gentrified beyond recognition and inhabited by upwardly mobile millennials. With Anthony’s painting career on the brink of stalling, a chance encounter with a Cabrini Green old-timer (Colman Domingo; HBO’s Euphoria) exposes Anthony to the tragically horrific nature of the true story behind Candyman. Anxious to maintain his status in the Chicago art world, Anthony begins to explore these macabre details in his studio as fresh grist for paintings, unknowingly opening a door to a complex past that unravels his own sanity and unleashes a terrifying wave of violence that puts him on a collision course with destiny.

CANDYMAN is now slated for a 2021 release.