'Candyman' Remake Won't Be Summoned Into Theaters Until 2021

After Wonder Woman 1984 vacated the previously set October 2 release date and headed to Christmas, that left Nia DaCosta's anticipated horror remake of Candyman as the next major theatrical release scheduled for the fall. But Universal and MGM apparently don't want to mess with that kind of pressure, so the studios are pushing back the movie to 2021, just like many other blockbusters that were intended for release this year.

Variety has news on the Candyman release date delay. The film was set to arrive on October 16 after already being delayed twice before by the coronavirus pandemic. The movie was originally slated for June this past summer, was pushed to September, and then again to the most recent October release date. Universal and MGM haven't announced the new Candyman release date for 2021 yet, but they will in the coming weeks.

Director Nia DaCosta took to Twitter overnight to explain why they're delaying instead of giving it a premium VOD release:

We made Candyman to be seen in theaters. 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.

We wanted the horror and humanity of Candyman to be experienced in a collective, a community, so we're pushing Candyman to next year, to ensure that everyone can see the film, in theaters, and share in that experience.

Following the debut of Tenet in theaters recently, studios have seen that even one of the biggest most anticipated movies of the year is having a hard time getting audiences into theaters. Who can blame them when the coronavirus pandemic is still a viable threat, especially in the United States. Though there are areas of the US where it seems safe to see movies, there's still risk involved every single time, and it will remain that way until there's a vaccine. Better safe than sorry.

Now the next major studio release is Death on the Nile, the follow-up to Murder on the Orient Express, currently slated to open in theaters on October 23, 2020. Will Disney/20th Century Studios keep that date or push it back until later in the year? Stay tuned.