‘Candyman’ director Nia DaCosta made history as the first Black female filmmaker to have a No. 1 hit at the box office.
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The film opened up at #1 with $22.3 million at the box office after it was expected to make $15 million in sales. According to Variety, ‘Candyman was solely released in theatres after Da Costa confirmed on Twitter that the film needs to be seen in theatres.
“Not just for the spectacle but because the film is about community and stories — how they shape each other, how they shape us. It’s about the collective experience of trauma and joy, suffering and triumph, and the stories we tell around it.”
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‘Candyman’ is reportedly a sequel to the 1992 film where it was produced and written by Jordan Peele and stars Yahya Abdul-Mateen II, Tayona Paris, Colman Domingo, Vanessa Williams, Virginia Madsen, and Tony Todd. It follows Mateen’s character after he moves into the Cabrini-Green neighborhood with his girlfriend.
DaCosta also made history as the second female director with the highest opening weekend gross. Ava DuVernay’s “A Wrinkle In Time” which opened at $33 million in the box office and grossed $100 million in 2016 was the first.
She will be the first Black woman and the youngest to direct a Marvel film, “The Marvels”, in 2022.