Yahya Abdul-Mateen II, last seen as Black Manta in the WB/DC Comics blockbuster film Aquaman, is in talks to take on the lead role in the Candyman sequel from MGM and producers Jordan Peele via his Monkeypaw Productions banner, and Win Rosenfeld. Nia DaCosta is at the helm, directing from a script co-written by Peele and Rosenfeld.
The reboot of the 1992 horror classic is being billed as a “spiritual sequel” to the original and returns to the neighborhood where the legend began: the now-gentrified section of Chicago where the Cabrini-Green housing projects once stood.
Candyman aka Daniel Robitaille, originally portrayed by Tony Todd, is an urban legend who is summoned to kill when his name is said five times by a person facing a mirror.
The pic is slated to hit theaters June 12, 2020. MGM is producing and financing. Adam Rosenberg and Tabitha Shick are supervising production on behalf of the studio while Ian Cooper will produce for Monkeypaw.
Abdul-Mateen II is part of the main cast of the upcoming Damon Lindelof-created HBO series Watchman, and also has a role in Peele’s hotly anticipated horror thriller Us.
He’s repped by Gersh and Anonymous Content.
Variety was first to report this casting.
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