Teyonah Parris is in talks to join Yahya Abdul Mateen II in Candyman from Jordan Peele and Nia DaCosta.
The MGM film will release in theaters on June 12, 2020. It will be set in “the now-gentrified section of Chicago where the Cabrini-Green housing projects once stood.”
With the report of Parris’ negotiations comes some new plot details. THR, who broke the news, also says: “Abdul-Matten who is still in negotiations for the movie, would play an artist who becomes obsessed with the bloody legend. If the deal makes, Parris will play his girlfriend, an art dealer.”
Unconfirmed reports also said a while back that Lakeith Stanfield would also star in the film, but nothing else has surfaced about that.
DaCosta, who had her feature debut this year with Little Woods starring Tessa Thompson and Lily James, will helm the film. Little Woods debuted at the Tribeca Film Festival this year and will be released this year by NEON. Peele is producing through his Monkeypaw Productions and is also co-writing.
The original 1992 Bernard Rose-directed film was based on a short story by Clive Barker and starred Tony Todd as the Candyman, the son of a slave who became an artist and inventor who was mutilated and killed by his lover’s father using bees. The urban legend, as the film states, is that if you say his name five times in a mirror, he’ll appear and kill the person with the hook that replaces his severed hand.
The film became a success after its release, grossing $25 million with approval from many critics. It has since lived on as a cult horror classic.
Parris was seen on the big screen recently in Barry Jenkins’ If Beale Street Could Talk. She recently wrapped Netflix’s Point Black with Anthony Mackie and Marcia Gay Harden, as well as Twelve with Jahi Winston and Meek Mill.
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Jordan Peele-Produced ‘Candyman’ Sequel Taps Nia DaCosta As Director, Sets Release Date
