Candyman Trailer Dares You to Say His Name

June 23, 2021

Universal Pictures has released the brand new Candyman trailer for Nia DaCosta’s forthcoming horror reboot, starring Emmy winner Yahya Abdul-Mateen II (Watchmen, Aquaman) and Teyonah Parris (WandaVision). The film is currently slated to arrive in theaters on Friday, August 27.

The video, which you can check out below, begins with Colman Domingo narrating the origins of the titular urban legend. It also highlights how Abdul-Mateen’s Anthony gets obsessed with learning about the killer, while a number of the characters say Candyman’s name repeatedly leading to his reawakening.

Oscar-winner Jordan Peele unleashes a fresh take on the blood-chilling urban legend: Candyman. Filmmaker Nia DaCosta (Little Woods, The Marvels) directs this contemporary incarnation of the cult classic. The film is being led by Yahya Abdul-Mateen as Anthony McCoy, and Teyonah Parris as Brianna Cartwright. Joining them are Colman Domingo, Vanessa Estelle Williams, Nathan Stewart-Jarrett, Rebecca Spence, and original Candyman actor Tony Todd.

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 a 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.

Universal Pictures presents, from Metro Goldwyn Mayer Pictures and Jordan Peele and Win Rosenfeld’s Monkeypaw Productions, in association with BRON Creative, Candyman. The film is produced by Ian Cooper (Us), Rosenfeld, and Peele. The screenplay is by Peele & Rosenfeld and DaCosta. The movie is based on the 1992 film Candyman, written by Bernard Rose, and the short story “The Forbidden” by Clive Barker. The film’s executive producers are David Kern, Aaron L. Gilbert, and Jason Cloth.