Though no deal has officially been finished, Yahya Abdul-Mateen II is in talks to star in the upcoming Candyman remake, MGM’s retelling of the classic horror film with Jordan Peele producing. Nia DaCosta, writer and director of Little Woods, is expected to direct the film, with MGM and Win Rosenfeld producing.
Abdul-Mateen, who portrayed Cadillac in Netflix’s The Get Down, and most recently appeared as Black Manta in DC’s Aquaman, also has a future appearance in Peele’s thriller Us as well as in HBO’s Watchmen series.
MGM has described the Candyman remake as a “spiritual sequel” to the original, with the film returning to the neighborhood where the first movie took place, the modernized section of Chicago where the Cabrini-Green housing projects used to stand. The original film was released in 1992 and follows a graduate student who discovers the legend of Candyman while writing his thesis.
Production on Candyman is expected to begin next spring, and the film’s release is planned for June 12, 2020.
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