Candyman, the horror remake helmed by Nia DaCosta and produced by Jordan Peele, was set for a release October 16th. In yet another covid delay, it’s being pushed back to an as-of-yet unknown date in 2021.
What’s interesting here, more than just another example of the shambles the moviegoing industry is in right now, what with the pandemic and all, is DaCosta’s wonderful explanation for the delay. According to DaCosta, the desire to have the film be seen in theaters, as the intended experience, is worth the delay.
“We made CANDYMAN to be see in theaters,” she wrote on Twitter. “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.”
At a time when the desire to have films seen in theaters is currently being used as a crass justification for encouraging audience members to needlessly endanger themselves and others, I’m refreshed to see the opposite take—that we clearly can’t do theaters right now, and so maybe let’s wait to release the movie entirely.
“We wanted the horror and humanity of CANDYMAN to be experienced in a collective, a community, so we’re pushing back CANDYMAN to next year, to ensure that everyone can see the film, in theaters, and share in that experience,” DeCosta continued.
And she’s right—horror film watching, in particular, shines as a collective, theater-going experience. I hope this film has a chance to get that, and to get it relatively safely.
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