Audiences will have to wait until 2021 to summon “Candyman.” The supernatural slasher film, directed by Nia DaCosta and written by Jordan Peele, Win Rosenfeld and DaCosta, has pushed back its theatrical release and will now debut on the big screen sometime next year.
“Candyman” was supposed to hit theaters on Oct. 16. Universal and MGM, the studios behind the movie, have yet to set a new release date but plan to announce one in the coming weeks.
The news comes hours after Warner Bros. postponed “Wonder Woman 1984” from Oct. 2 to Christmas Day. Without the “Wonder Woman” sequel, “Candyman” would have been the next highly anticipated movie to release on the big screen following “Tenet.”
“Tenet” debuted in the U.S. last weekend and was expected to test whether or not audiences would return to theaters during the pandemic. The movie, directed by Christopher Nolan, generated $20 million over the holiday frame.
After Sony’s romantic comedy “The Broken Hearts Gallery” opens this weekend, Disney and Marvel’s comic book adventure “Black Widow” on Nov. 6 is the next major film slated to release in theaters.
“Candyman” was originally scheduled to debut in June, but due to the coronavirus pandemic it has been delayed numerous times. The movie has been described as a “spiritual sequel” to the 1992 slasher movie directed by Bernard Rose. Based on the ghastly urban legend, the film centers on a struggling artist (portrayed by Yahya Abdul-Mateen II) who begins to lose his sanity after discovering the story of Candyman. As the tale goes, if someone says his name to a mirror five times, Candyman will appear and kill whoever summoned him.