Universal Pictures has just shared a new promo for their upcoming film Candyman. The horror slasher, which will be directed by Nia DaCosta and produced by Jordan Peele, already got its first official trailer back in February, but does this new bit of footage reveal any additional information about the pic?
Not particularly. The promo – about 30 seconds in length – includes footage from the February teaser and intersperses it with puppetry animation that presumably tells the backstory of the film’s antagonist: a laws-of-physics-defying mass-murdering boogeyman who derived his name from America’s favorite dessert.
Initially expected to be directed by Peele himself, the project was eventually relegated to DaCosta. An African American screenwriter and filmmaker who made her directorial debut with the respectable 2018 drama Little Woods, she’s arguably one of the most qualified creatives Universal could have settled for.
That is, of course, besides Peele himself. Through his movies Get Out and Us, he not only cemented himself as one of the best contemporary horror filmmakers, but one of the best filmmakers in general. Blending original concepts with expertly-crafted storytelling that could impress even the likes of Charlie Kaufman, Peele was without a doubt the public’s number one choice.
Still, Candyman is one of the most hotly-anticipated films of the year and the hype around it can be attributed not only to the talented artists who are making it, but also to the current state of the world. Following the nationwide civil rights protests in response to the death of George Floyd, the western movie industry is about to become more representational and inclusive than it ever was before. And as two artists of color, Peele and DaCosta’s work is sure to prove itself a welcome addition among the uninspired and whitewashed productions that Hollywood usually churns out.
