Tony Todd is reportedly playing the murderous Candyman in Jordan Peele's reboot of the horror classic.
Tony Todd
The 64-year-old actor portrayed the hook-wielding supernatural killer in the original 1992 movie and two follow-ups and, although he had confirmed her would be appearing in some capacity in the sequel, specialist horror website Bloody-Disgusting.com is now reporting that Todd is back in his most famous role.
According to the online outlet, shooting began over a month ago in Chicago on the project and it is Todd who is portraying the Candyman and not 'Aquaman' star Yahya Abdul-Mateen II as first thought.
The film is being directed by Nia DaCosta from a script that has been co-written by 'Get Out' filmmaker Peele. It is being described as a "spiritual sequel" to the original movie and it is set in the American neighbourhood where events began; a now-gentrified section of Chicago where the Cabrini-Green housing projects once stood.
The 1992 version of 'Candyman' - which is inspired by legendary horror author Clive Barker's short story 'The Forbidden' - follows graduate student Helen Lyle (Virginia Madsen) who explores the story of the Candyman for her thesis on urban legends.
The urban legend states that the Candyman - who, in life, was African-American artist Daniel Robitaille who was lynched for falling in love and fathering a child with a white woman in 1890 - is summoned after his name is said out loud five times in a mirror.
The first film was a huge success and spawned two follow-ups: 'Candyman: Farewell to the Flesh' and 'Candyman: Day of the Dead'.
Peele, 40, has admitted the original movie had a huge impact on him when he was younger because it was centred around an African-American character in Todd - who also starred in Tom Savini's 1990 remake of George A. Romero's zombie classic 'Night of the Living Dead', another favourite of Peele's.
He said: "The original was a landmark film for black representation in the horror genre. Alongside 'Night of the Living Dead', 'Candyman' was a major inspiration for me as a filmmaker."
Universal Pictures will release 'Candyman' in June 2020.
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