Tony Todd: Fans will be proud to see Candyman story continue in new film

Last Updated on July 30, 2021

It's still not clear how much of a role original CANDYMAN (watch it HERE) star Tony Todd will be playing in the "spiritual sequel" coming our way from director Nia DaCosta and producer Jordan Peele, but we know he's in the film in some capacity – and he has made it clear that the film has his full support. Speaking to our own Lance Vlcek earlier this week, Todd said that the new film will be mind-blowing. Now Todd has sat down for an interview with Movieweb, and talked about the new CANDYMAN a bit more: 

I think we're going to be surprised about how many things have changed in 30 years, and how many things have stayed the same. It's a 30-year gap. So we have a new way of looking at it for an entirely new generation, who unfortunately may not have seen the source material. I'm lucky because due to the con world I have been able to keep this character alive and kicking for the 30-year gap. I'm not upset at all. I'm honored that someone thought the source material was important enough to renew the tale. And I know for a fact that is gonna be one of the most accepted and received horror films in a while."

Todd hasn't had a chance to watch the finished film yet, but believes he will be able to watch it before the theatrical release. 

They're finishing up touches and I'm probably going to get a copy in a timely fashion. I'm fully aboard the team. It's a great team. Nia DaCosta. Not only a female director, but an African American director. You have Jordan Peele, who is arguably one of the hottest producers around right now. I think people are gonna be proud to see the character and the story continue. The entire film is shot in Chicago. That new look Chicago."

He went on to confirm that he has "signed side deals for toys and other ancillary products", so it sounds like we'll have some cool CANDYMAN merchandise to look forward to as well.

DaCosta wrote the screenplay for the new CANDYMAN with Peele and Win Rosenfeld. Peele and Rosenfeld produced the film with Ian Cooper, through Peele's company Monkeypaw Productions. The synopsis: 

Don’t say his name.

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 and his girlfriend, gallery director Brianna Cartwright, 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 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 terrifyingly viral wave of violence that puts him on a collision course with destiny.

Oscar-winner Jordan Peele unleashes a fresh take on the blood-chilling urban legend that your friend’s older sibling probably told you about at a sleepover: Candyman.

Yahya Abdul-Mateen II, Teyonah Parris, Colman Domingo, and Nathan Stewart-Jarrett star, with original CANDYMAN cast member Vanessa Williams returning to reprise the role of Anne-Marie McCoy. The Anthony McCoy mentioned in the synopsis is believed to be Anne-Marie's son, the baby from the first film. 

Rated R for "bloody horror violence, and language including some sexual references", CANDYMAN is scheduled to receive a theatrical release on October 16th.