The second trailer for the Candyman remake starring Yahya Abdul-Mateen II has revealed new elements of the chilling plot. Slated to be released in theaters on August 27, the ’90s horror film has been given a new life from director Nia DaCosta and producer Jordan Peele. In the new trailer, audiences find Mateen II’s character, Anthony McCoy, on a desperate hunt to track the origins of the titular monster, and as he begins his quest he realizes he may find more than he desired.
Teyonah Parris and Colman Domingo also star in the film, presented by Universal Pictures. DaCosta and Peele co-wrote the screenplay along with Win Rosenfeld. The film’s official synopsis reads “for as long as residents can remember, the housing projects of Chicago’s Cabrini-Green neighborhood were terrorized by a word-of-mouth ghost story about a supernatural killer with a hook for a hand, easily summoned by those daring to repeat his name five times into a mirror.
“With Anthony’s (Mateen II) painting career on the brink of stalling, a chance encounter with a Cabrini-Green old-timer (Domingo) exposes Anthony to the tragically horrific nature of the true story behind Candyman. Anxious to maintain his status in the Chicago art world, Anthony begins to explore these macabre details in his studio as fresh grist for paintings, unknowingly opening a door to a complex past that unravels his own sanity and unleashes a terrifying wave of violence that puts him on a collision course with destiny.”
For DaCosta, making this film was important. In an IndieWire Juneteenth interview, she shared how Candyman has social themes relevant to the newly-established federal holiday.
“Especially last year, I was thinking a lot about the duality of the Black experience in America,” DaCosta said to the outlet. “At once, it’s a place of this great hope, which I think is what Juneteenth represents in one way. It’s a celebration of us, of life, of freedom, of possibility. On the other side, it’s incredibly difficult and there’s a lot of pain, and they kind of walk hand in hand. That’s something about this film, as well. There’s still this sort of bittersweet hope.
“I started working on the film in winter 2019 and so much changed in that time. We had the pandemic happen, we had the really amazing show of political, and cultural, and emotional force and throughout the making of the film the thing that I always came back to was the truth of the pain that was at the center of the story of ‘Candyman.'”
Watch the trailer below: