Universal Pictures has delayed the release date of Candyman, in addition to a handful of other horror features on the studio's slate. The is the second time the reboot of the 1992 horror movie has been delayed. Back in April we learned the Candyman release date had moved from June 12 to September 25 of this year.

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Image via Universal Pictures

Candyman's delay was announced as part of a group of also-delayed horror movies including Halloween Kills. Universal announced on Wednesday it was moving the Candyman release date from September 25 to October 16, 2020. No official reason was given by the studio. However, it feels fairly safe to assume Candyman's new release date is the result of ongoing concerns across the film industry on when it will be safe to open movie theaters and resume filming as the world deals with the COVID-19 pandemic. Despite new measures taken by theater chains to ensure the safety of patrons, it still feels too risky for studios to send their big releases to theaters.

Directed by Nia DaCosta, the Candyman reboot stars Yahya Abdul-Mateen II as a Chicago-area artist who takes a fervent interest in the local lore around the fabled Candyman. Candyman also stars Teyonah Parris (Chi-raq), Colman Domingo (Selma), and Nathan Jarrett-Stewart (Misfits). Candyman is co-written by DaCosta, Jordan Peele, and Win Rosenfeld. Peele and Rosenfeld also serve as co-producers.

Candyman is now set for release on October 16. For more, be sure to watch the most recent Candyman teaser and check out our updated 2020 release calendar.

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Image via Universal Pictures

Here's the official Candyman synopsis:

This October, Oscar® winner Jordan Peele unleashes a fresh take on the blood-chilling urban legend that your friend’s older sibling probably told you about at a sleepover: Candyman. Rising filmmaker Nia DaCosta (Little Woods) directs this contemporary incarnation of the cult classic.

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; HBO’s Watchmen, Us) and his girlfriend, gallery director Brianna Cartwright (Teyonah Parris; If Beale Street Could Talk, The Photograph), 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; HBO’s Euphoria, Assassination Nation) 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 terrifying wave of violence that puts him on a collision course with destiny.

Universal Pictures presents, from Metro Goldwyn Mayer Pictures and Jordan Peele and Win Rosenfeld’s Monkeypaw Productions, in association with BRON Creative, Candyman. Candyman is directed by DaCosta, and is produced by Ian Cooper (Us), Rosenfeld and Peele. The screenplay is by Peele & Rosenfeld and DaCosta. The film is based on the 1992 film Candyman, written by Bernard Rose, and the short story “The Forbidden” by Clive Barker. The film’s executive producers are David Kern, Aaron L. Gilbert and Jason Cloth.