According to Variety, Candyman director Nia DaCosta has made history as the first Black woman to have a film debut at #1 at the box office. The sequel to the 1992 horror movie earned more than $22 million at the box office over the weekend.
The film was written and produced by Jordan Peele of Get Out and Us fame and starred Yahya Abdul-Mateen II, Vanessa Williams and Tony Todd as Candyman. DaCosta and Monkeypaw President Win Rosenfeld also co-wrote the script.
Candyman knocked Ryan Reynold’s action movie, Free Guy, out of first place, and apparently, Universal Studios is surprised by the audience’s demographics over the weekend.
Thirty-seven percent of the audience was Black, 30 percent was white, and 22 percent was Latino.
DaCosta’s first film was Little Woods with Tessa Thompson and Lily James in 2018.
With #Candyman‘s $20.4 million opening at the US box office, director #NiaDaCosta becomes the first Black female filmmaker to open a film at Number 1. pic.twitter.com/TbNO5Zuyxu
— HOTCHKA (@Hotchka) August 30, 2021
The film is also getting excellent reviews. The Hollywood Reporter noted how the film touches on social issues facing the nation today, such as gentrification and systematic racism. The original film takes place in Chicago’s Cabrini Green project, which was demolished between 2000 and 2011. The film also references Black Lives Matter.
“Gentrification will obviously be at the forefront of discussions surrounding DaCosta’s film, as explored through the Cabrini Green projects being devoured by new apartment complexes for bougie artists and wealthy renters. But it goes deeper than that, into the systemic racism that results in Black people being pit against each other in a battle to have their story heard.”
Candyman was shot with a mostly Black cast and crew. The film is also told from the point of view of Black people, whereas the first movie was told from the point of view of a white character.
Candyman is currently in theaters.
