The trailer for the upcoming Jordan Peele-produced Candyman reboot has finally arrived, and it proves the urban legend is still alive and is just as scary as ever.
The trailer certainly leans more into a kind of pseudo-sequel territory than a full-on reboot, as it centers on an artist (Watchmen‘s Yahya Abdul-Mateen II) from the same Chicago neighborhood in which the original franchise took place. He sets out on a new project where he tries to uncover the truth behind the Candyman legend and apparently ends up becoming the vessel that allows the monster to rise again.
The film taking this route seems to leave the door open for original Candyman actor Tony Todd to appear in some capacity — and he is heavily rumored to be involved. Some even think that Todd makes a blink-and-you’ll-miss-it cameo in the trailer. Whether he actually shows up or not, the new Candyman trailer looks downright terrifying either way — thanks in no small part to its creepy arrangement of Destiny Child’s “Say My Name.” Check it out below, followed by the film’s official synopsis.
For as long as residents can remember, the housing projects of Chicago’s Cabrini Green neighborhood were terrorized by a word-of-mouth ghost story about a supernatural killer with a hook for a hand, easily summoned by those daring to repeat his name five times into a mirror. In present day, a decade after the last of the Cabrini towers were torn down, visual artist Anthony McCoy (Yahya Abdul-Mateen II) and his girlfriend, gallery director Brianna Cartwright (Teyonah Parris), move into a luxury loft condo in Cabrini, now gentrified beyond recognition and inhabited by upwardly mobile millennials.
With Anthony’s painting career on the brink of stalling, a chance encounter with a Cabrini Green old-timer (Colman Domingo) exposes Anthony to the tragically horrific nature of the true story behind Candyman. Anxious to maintain his status in the Chicago art world, Anthony begins to explore these macabre details in his studio as fresh grist for paintings, unknowingly opening a door to a complex past that unravels his own sanity and unleashes a terrifyingly viral wave of violence that puts him on a collision course with destiny.
Candyman will show up in theaters on June 12… provided that you first say his name five times.
