Peele and director Nia DaCosta spoke about bringing the classic urban legend to life through a new lens.
Not every remake of a fan favorite film is welcomed with open arms, but there seems to be a bit of excitement regarding Jordan Peele’s adaptation of Candyman. The original 1992 horror flick was directed by Bernard Rose and starred Tony Todd as the creepy title character, however, audiences experienced that telling of the story through the character Helen Lyle. Peele believes that seeing the tale being told through the eyes of a White woman changed the narrative.
After experiencing delays due to the pandemic, we’re all set to receive the 2021 Candyman reboot at the end of the month, and in a new featurette about the film, Peele speaks about why he believed this latest adaptation was necessary.
Peele acts as both co-writer and producer of the movie, adding to his growing list of Black horror features, but he received much help from the film’s director, Nia DaCosta. “I’ve always been fascinated with urban legends,” said Peele. DaCosta added that for her, Candyman was more than a film when she was a child; it was something that people believed in.
“Candyman is the patron saint of the urban legend,” said Peele in the clip. “We didn’t have a Black Freddy [Krueger], we didn’t have a Black Jason. It felt important this Candyman be told from a Black perspective.” DaCosta added, “For us, Candyman was some demon, ghost, man killing people in the projects… Candyman is so perennial. We’re talking about the cycles of violence and how history repeats itself and how we effectively process trauma through stories.”
“It’s always a time to tell a story like Candyman which is a big tragedy,” she continued. Candyman is slated for release on August 27. Check out the latest featurette below and let us know if you’ll be watching this reboot.