Variety is now reporting that Aquaman’s Yahya Abdul-Mateen II has been tapped to play the protagonist in producer Jordan Peele’s upcoming ‘spiritual sequel’ to the 1992 horror classic “Candyman” for MGM.
It had been initially reported that Lakeith Stanfield (“Sorry to Bother You,” “Atlanta”) was the frontrunner for the role.
Nia DaCosta (Little Woods) is directing from a script co-written by Peele and his MonkeyPaw Productions partner Win Rosenfield. MGM is slated to release the new Candyman movie on June 12, 2020 with production is expected to begin next spring.
Abdul-Mateen II will play Anthony, a young man in Chicago who is researching the urban legend known simply as Candyman. It’s not long before people around him start dying.
Tony Todd played the titular hook-handed villain role in the original and there’s yet to be any casting rumors regarding the role for this outing. The original short story was written by horror maestro Clive Barker, and Peele said the 1992 movie was “a landmark film for black representation in the horror genre.”
Best known for playing Black Manta in Warner Bros.’ “Aquaman,” Abdul-Mateen will appear next in Peele’s thriller “Us.” He is also set to star in HBO’s “Watchmen” series. He previously portrayed the villainous Cadillac in Netflix’s “The Get Down.”
MGM is producing and financing “Candyman,” while Universal Pictures will handle its domestic theatrical distribution. Adam Rosenberg, MGM’s co-president of production, and Tabitha Shick, MGM’s VP of production, will oversee the movie on behalf of the studio and Ian Cooper will produce for Monkeypaw.
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