Sony’s “Ghostbusters: Afterlife” and Universal’s “Candyman” Retelling Both Pushed Back to Summer 2021
And the delays just keep on coming. Sony Pictures has announced they will be moving Ghostbusters: Afterlife from March to June 11, 2021. With hundreds of theaters shutdown across the US and UK, and virtually no blockbuster movies scheduled to release for the rest of the year, delays are are inevitable. The sharp dip in theater attendance and availability has also lead Universal, and MGM to delay their reimagining of the 1992 horror gem Candyman from October, 2020 to August 17, 2021.
Both films were immediately pushed back for the first time at the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic earlier this year. Witnessing huge tentpoles like Christopher Nolan’s Tenet severely underperforming in the US upon release, studios aren’t taking any chances with their upcoming slate of films.
The fresh retelling of the classic Candyman story is directed by Nia DaCosta (Little Woods) and stars Yahya Abdul-Mateen II, Teyonah Parris, Nathan Stewart-Jarret, and Colman Domingo. The first film featured the great Tony Todd as the incredibly creepy, hook handed killer Candyman aka Daniel Robitaille. The film follows a college grad-student who awakens the murderous soul by saying his name five times out loud in front of the mirror. This ‘spiritual sequel’ will have a more modern twist on the classic tale and will take place in a now-gentrified Chicago neighborhood where the original horror legend first began. Jordan Peele (Key & Peele, Get Out) co-wrote the screenplay with DaCosta, and Win Rosenfield. Peele will also serve as producer under his Monkeypaw Productions company.
The Sony Pictures semi-sequel/reboot Ghostbusters: Afterlife will be released exactly 37 years from the original Ghostbusters (1984) film starring Bill Murray, Dan Aykroyd, Harold Ramis, and Ernie Hudson. Director Jason Reitman (Up In The Air, Juno) will take over the directing duties for the franchise from his very own father, director Ivan Reitman (Ghostbusters 1 & 2, Stripes) who will serve as producer on Afterlife. Carrie Coon, Finn Wolfhard, Mckenna Grace, Annie Potts, and Paul Rudd will star in this new installment written by Gil Kenan and Reitman. Centering on a single mom and her two kids who arrive in a small town, they quickly begin to discover their special connection to the original “ghostbusters” and the secret legacy left behind by their very own grandfather.
You can checkout the trailers for both films below, and catch them in theaters (hopefully) in summer 2021.
Are you excited for these two reimagining’s of classic franchises? Do you think these films, along with many others, will stay at their new release dates? Let us know in the comments below or join in the discussion at the TCN official Twitter.
