Jordan Peele-Produced CANDYMAN Slated for 2020 Release, Nia DaCosta to Direct

Earlier this year, Bloody Disgusting reported that Jordan Peele was looking to produce a reimagining of Bernard Rose's Candyman (based on Clive Barker's short story "The Forbidden"), and now those discussions have been confirmed, as a new Candyman movie is slated for a 2020 release, with Nia DaCosta (Little Woods) set to direct.

In addition to Bloody Disgusting, multiple sources, including Variety, confirm the news of a new Candyman, which will be produced by Jordan Peele's Monkeypaw Productions, along with Win Rosenfeld and MGM. Described as a "spiritual sequel" to the original (which also spawned two sequels: Candyman: Farewell to the Flesh and Candyman: Day of the Dead), the new Candyman is slated for a theatrical release via Universal Pictures on June 12th, 2020, with production being eyed to start in the spring of 2019.

According to Variety, the new Candyman will go back "to the neighborhood where the legend began: the now-gentrified section of Chicago where the Cabrini-Green housing projects once stood."

Here's what MGM Motion Picture Group president Jonathan Glickman had to say about the reimagining (via Variety):

“We cannot wait for the world to see what the mind-blowing combination of Jordan, Win, and Nia bring to the legend of Candyman. They have created a story that will not only pay reverence to Clive Barker’s haunting and brilliant source material, but is also thoroughly modern and will bring in a whole new generation of fans.”

Sharing Glickman's excitement, Peele also shared his thoughts on the new Candyman and reflected on the cultural significance of the original movie (via Variety):

“The original was a landmark film for black representation in the horror genre. Alongside ‘Night of the Living Dead,’ ‘Candyman’ was a major inspiration for me as a filmmaker — and to have a bold new talent like Nia at the helm of this project is truly exciting. We are honored to bring the next chapter in the ‘Candyman’ canon to life and eager to provide new audiences with an entry point to Clive Barker’s legend.”

There's no word yet on who will star in the film, or if Tony Todd will reprise his role as the terrifying titular character who appears if you say his name five times in front of a mirror in the first film, but we'll keep Daily Dead readers updated on future announcements.

On November 20th, the first Candyman movie was released on a Collector's Edition Blu-ray from Scream Factory, and for those unfamiliar with the film, we have its synopsis and trailer below (via Scream Factory):

"This gut-wrenching thriller follows a graduate student whose research summons the spirit of the dead! When Helen Lyle hears about Candyman, a slave spirit with a hook hand who is said to haunt a notorious housing project, she thinks she has a new twist for her thesis. Braving the gang-ridden territory to visit the site, Helen arrogantly assumes Candyman can't really exist ... until he appears, igniting a string of terrifying, grisly slayings. But the police don't believe in monsters, and charge Helen with the crimes. And the only one who can set her free is Candyman."