Lakeith Stanfield is being lined up to star in Jordan Peele’s ‘Candyman’ movie.
According to SuperBroMovies, the 27-year-old American actor is in talks to star as the film’s protagonist Anthony, a young man in Chicago who researches the Candyman urban legend.
Peele – who made his directorial debut on the acclaimed 2017 psychological scare fest ‘Get Out’ – will co-write the new horror film, bringing back the cult horror franchise which began in 1992 and starred Tony Todd as a hook-wielding supernatural killer who appears after his name is said five times in a mirror.
The original film was inspired by legendary horror author Clive Barker’s short story ‘The Forbidden’.
Nia DaCosta is on board to direct the project from 39-year-old Peele’s script with Win Rosenfeld.
Like ‘Get Out’, the original ‘Candyman’ was centered around an African America character and Peele admits the movie had a huge impact on him when he was younger, especially as Candyman actor Todd also starred in Tom Savini’s 1990 remake of George A. Romero’s zombie classic ‘Night of the Living Dead’.
He said: "The original was a landmark film for black representation in the horror genre. Alongside ‘Night of the Living Dead’, ‘Candyman’ was a major inspiration for me as a filmmaker – and to have a bold new talent like Nia at the helm of this project is truly exciting. We are honored to bring the next chapter in the Candyman canon to life and eager to provide new audiences with an entry point to Clive Barker’s legend."
The first film spawned two follow-ups ‘Candyman: Farewell to the Flesh’, and ‘Candyman: Day of the Dead’, and Peel’s new movie has been described as "spiritual sequel" to the original and will be a return to neighborhood where the legend began; a now-gentrified section of Chicago where the Cabrini-Green housing projects once stood.
Shooting on the movie is scheduled to begin in spring 2019 and Universal Pictures will release ‘Candyman’ in cinemas in June 2020.
Lakeith Stanfield to star in new Candyman movie
