“Candyman” director Nia DaCosta made history this weekend when her film took the No. 1 spot at the box office, grossing $22.3 million in its opening weekend.
The horror flick is a big milestone for the 31-year-old filmmaker: She’s the first black female filmmaker to achieve this feat.
“Candyman” is a sequel to the 1992 horror classic of the same name. Written by Oscar winner Jordan Peele and Win Rosenfeld, the plot follows Yahya Abdul-Mateen II as an artist who moves into the first film’s gentrified Cabrini-Green neighborhood with his girlfriend. The slasher movie also stars Teyonah Parris, Colman Domingo, Vanessa Williams, Tony Todd and Virginia Madsen.
The movie also beat out expectations, according to Variety, since it was projected to earn $15 million in ticket sales.
The blowout weekend for “Candyman” also marks the second-highest US opening weekend gross ever for a film directed by a black woman. Ava DuVernay holds the top spot for 2018’s “A Wrinkle in Time,” which grossed $33 million in its opening weekend. It was also the first film directed by a black woman to pass $100 million at the box office.
While DaCosta’s achievement is a righteous one, black women are still underrepresented in the world of directing. But DaCosta is on a mission to change all of that.
The Brooklyn native will make history yet again as the first black woman and the youngest director to direct a Marvel film with “The Marvels” — the sequel to 2019’s “Captain Marvel.” The superhero flick is currently in production and will hit theaters in 2022.