On the day Universal Pictures pushed back Candyman from a summer movie to an early-Halloween movie, Variety reported the news with the following headline, “Jordan Peele’s Candyman Postponed Until September.” Nia DaCosta, who actually directed the dang film, retweeted the article, adding, “I have a confession: Jordan Peele’s Candyman is actually moving to September because Nia DaCosta just bought Skyrim.” The joke being, Candyman isn’t a Jordan Peele movie; it’s a Nia DaCosta movie. (Don’t worry, I only said you-know-what four times in that paragraph. Still got one to go.)
DaCosta might not be as well known as Peele — although you should check out her directorial debut, Little Woods, with Tessa Thompson — but in an interview with Empire, the Us filmmaker explained why she was the perfect person for the gig.
“I was working on Us when this would have happened,” Peele said. “But quite honestly, Nia is better to shoot this than I am. I’m way too obsessed with the original tales in my head. I probably wouldn’t be any good. But Nia has a steady manner about her, which you don’t see a lot in the horror space. She’s refined, elegant, every shot is beautiful. It’s a beautiful, beautiful movie. I’m so glad I didn’t mess it up.” In deference to the 1992 film, Peele and DaCosta both also wanted to tell “a black story about black people,” as she put it. “It was very important for all of us to have our main character be black, and for this experience to be through the black lens. Let’s make sure we change the lens now.”
Candyman (oh no!) opens on September 25.
(Via Empire)
