New 'Candyman' Trailer: Dare To Say His Name This August

Say his name five times in a mirror, and you’re going to have a bad time. Nia DaCosta‘s “Candyman,” the sequel/update to Bernard Rose‘s 1992 modern horror classic, finally hits theaters at the end of the summer after being delayed three times thanks to the COVID-19 pandemic. With a script co-written by horror maestro Jordan Peele and frequent Peele collaborator Win Rosenfeld, DaCosta’s film may end up being the summer’s big horror film over the likes of “Old” and “A Quiet Place: Part II.”

Based on the short story “The Forbidden” by Clive Barker, Rose’s “Candyman” followed a graduate student as her research on urban legends unearthed the violent and tragic secret history of Chicago’s Cabrini-Green neighborhood. DaCosta’s spiritual sequel gives the original’s themes of race, class, art, and sacrifice a 21st-century update.

Here’s the (very long) synopsis:

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 the present day, a decade after the last of the Cabrini towers were torn down, visual artist Anthony McCoy and his partner, 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 the 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” stars Yahya Abdul-Mateen II (HBO‘s ‘Watchmen‘), Teyonah Parris (“If Beale Street Could Talk“), Nathan Stewart-Jarrett (‘The Argument‘), and Colman Domingo (‘Fear The Walking Dead‘). In addition, Tony Todd and Vanessa Estelle Williams reprise their roles from Rose’s film.

Peele, Rosenfeld, and Ian Cooper produce “Candyman” through MGM, Bron Creative, and Peele’s Monkeypaw Productions. Robert A.A. Lowe (‘A Spell To Ward Off Darkness‘), otherwise known as Lichens, provides the film’s score.

Will “Candyman” be a step up from “Little Woods” for Nia DaCosta as she prepares to start work on “The Marvels“? Find out on August 27, when the film hits theaters from Universal Pictures. Check out the trailer below.