‘Candyman’ Director Nia DaCosta Makes Box Office History

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Nia DaCosta’s remake of 1992 horror classic Candyman has debuted at number one at box offices across North America.

In its first weekend, Candyman (2021) has grossed $22 million (£16 million). This makes DaCosta, who previously had modest success with crime thriller Little Woods (2018), the first Black female director to have ever achieved such box office success. This also recoups almost all of the film’s budget in its opening weekend.

DaCosta’s reboot of the Candyman franchise was co-written and produced by Get Out (2016) director Jordan Peele. It follows Anthony McCoy (Yahya Abdul Mateen II), a visual artist from Chicago, as he embarks on his next project: documenting the cultural impact of local urban ‘legend’ the Candyman. He returns to the Cabrini-Green neighbourhood from the first Candyman film, and predictably “unleashes a terrifying wave of violence”. Despite being firmly grounded in the horror genre, the film is also a commentary on gentrification and social mobility.

Currently, DaCosta is working on upcoming Marvel Cinematic Universe film The Marvels. This will be the sequel to Captain Marvel (2019) and will see Teyonah Parris, who stars as Brianna Cartwright in Candyman, reprise her role as Monica Rambeau. A history-maker twice in a row, DaCosta will consequently be the first Black woman to direct a Marvel film.

The success of Candyman has surpassed the estimates of box office analysts, despite COVID-19 having a significant impact on box office figures in the past year. Candyman has also avoided a simultaneous streaming release. This may help Candyman to avoid the same fate as other recent films like Black Widow (2021), which suffered from declining profits as time went on.

This success could likewise indicate the enduring popularity of horror films: John Krasinski’s A Quiet Place Part II (2020) also enjoyed success at the box office. However, women are also taking the lead in the horror genre. In recent years, female directors have been producing an increasing number of groundbreaking horror films—with the success of Rose Glass’ Saint Maud (2020), and the recent reappraisal of Karyn Kusama’s once–critically-panned Jennifer’s Body (2009), are potentially creating an uptrend of interest in ‘feminine horror’. Rather than focusing on gendered violence towards women, films in this category combine subtle social commentary with the horror tropes fans all know and love, with slightly less of the mistreatment of women that they’ve come to expect. DaCosta’s success adds another dimension, ensuring that the film’s discussion of topics such as gentrification and urban folklore is—unlike in the original—told from a Black perspective. DaCosta, then, is likely to continue making history as a brave new voice in filmmaking, including within the horror genre.

Words by Maddy Raven


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