Nia DaCosta, the director of the upcoming CANDYMAN remake (sequel?), just posted this powerful meditation on black violence at the hands of white authority on her official Twitter account, where she had this to say:
CANDYMAN, at the intersection of white violence and black pain, is about unwilling martyrs. The people they were, the symbols we turn them into, the monsters we are told they must have been.
The video – shown through beautiful, abstract puppetry – recalls different occurances of violence against Black men throughout history (including being beaten by police in the present day, to a mob dragging an innocent man behind a car, to allusions to the infamous case of George Stinney, who was executed by the state at age 14 in 1944), all the way down to the torture and murder of the original Tony Todd Candyman in the 1800s. It's emotional stuff that definitely gets me more excited for whatever DaCosta has in store for the franchise!
Meanwhile, here's the official synopsis for the film itself:
Anthony, 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.
CANDYMAN – directed by Nia DaCosta, produced by Jordan Peele, and starring Yahya Abdul-Mateen II, Teyonah Parris, and a returning Tony Todd – is expected to hit theaters September 25th (though we'll keep you updated if there are any changes).