New 'Candyman' Trailer Explores the Villain's Origin Story

The Candyman remake will hit theaters on August 27th, 2021.

The long-awaited Nia DaCosta remake of the 1992 Black horror classic Candymanfinally has an official release date. The movie is set to arrive in theaters on August 27th. On Wednesday, Universal and MGM released a trailer exploring the villain's origin story in the Cabrini-Green neighborhood of Chicago. Take a look at the trailer below.

The movie has been billed as a "spiritual sequel" to the original. In the new version, artist and recent Chicago transplant Anthony McCoy (played by Yahya Abdul-Mateen II), learns about the tragic origin story of the titular character. Suspected of putting razor blades in children's candy, an innocent man was killed by police and later became the villain summoned by speaking into a mirror, in the trailer described as not a "he," but "the whole damn hive." McCoy incorporates Candyman's story into his own art, a decision that allows him to understand the past more clearly, if only at the expense of his sanity.

The movie finally has an official release date after over a year's worth of postponements. Back in September 2020, DaCosta stressed the importance of a theatrical release for the movie instead of selling the rights to a streaming service.

"We made Candyman to be seen in theaters," she tweeted at the time. "Not just for the spectacle but because the film is about community and stories — how they shape each other, how they shape us. It’s about the collective experience of trauma and joy, suffering and triumph, and the stories we tell around it."