‘Candyman’ director Nia DaCosta makes history as horror film dominates box office

Nia DaCosta’s “Candyman” summoned more than $22.3 million at the North American box office this past weekend, cementing the horror flick in cinematic history as the first film directed by a Black woman to open at No. As ‘Candyman’ reminds us, say his name and incur the consequences, or, invoke his protection.” Co-written by DaCosta, Peele and Win Rosenfeld, “Candyman” marks DaCosta’s second big-screen effort after making her feature filmmaking debut in 2018 with “Little Woods,” a modern western drama starring Lily James and Tessa Thompson. Up next, she’ll become the first Black woman to direct a movie in the Marvel Cinematic Universe with the sequel to 2019’s “Captain Marvel,” before helming a film adaptation of “The Lincoln Conspiracy,” by bestselling authors Brad Meltzer and Josh Mensch. The forthcoming followup to “Captain Marvel” will reunite DaCosta with actor Teyonah Parris, who stars in “Candyman” and made her Marvel debut this year as Monica Rambeau in the hit Disney+ series “WandaVision.” “Candyman,” which was expected to gross an additional $5.23 million in 5`1 international markets, was followed in weekend box office results by “Free Guy,” “PAW Patrol” and “Jungle Cruise.” “Because this movie is about racial violence and specifically police violence against Black people, I knew that was something I didn’t want to show because we see so much of it,” DaCosta told The Times earlier this month.