Candyman Has Deliciously Sweet Horrified End of Summer Debut

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 Sunday, August 29, 2021 - 20:27 by Tony Rutherford , HNN Entertainment Editor
Candyman Has Deliciously Sweet Horrified End of Summer Debut

“Audiences are eager to be in theaters where you get that true communal experience, which is very best for the genre. Our word of mouth on the film appears to be very enthusiastic,” Universal’s Jim Orr told Boxoffice Pro‘s Daniel Loria. For the mixed summer of 2021 filled with cheers and anxiety from COVID variants, horror and thriller flicks have been a foundation.

When times are edgy viewers run to cinemas either to watch something happy or a scary offering. Since the COVID invasion, horror has been a stable mainstay. Due to the ability to produce the genre on a relatively low budget, the booking docket has been filled with horror/suspense . The schedules have been inudated with smaller budget horror hoping to find a break as studios have been tepid about releasing their bigger budget franchises and tentpoles.

Instead of burn out, "Candyman's" good reviews and anticipation drew in about $22.3 million from fans. It's the second most anticipated horror flick of the summer. Quiet Place II opened Memorial Day weekend fo about $44 million dollars. 

Reviews have been upbeat:

Candyman doesn’t merely note the connection between fear and remembrance, it also interrogates it from every possible angle (Slant)

Candyman feels like a reclamation project of sorts. One that will scare the pants off of you, yes, but also one that adds depth and resonance to the once-static slasher format. (observer)

One viewer attacked political themes, beaming, "This was an incredible film, and quite possible the best film I've ever seen in my life. I've never felt so speechless in a theater before. Those writing negative reviews are likely only doing so because they disagree with the "political" themes of the movie, which is absurd. "

Ryan Reynolds Free Man gobbled $13.6 million , the best third weekend gross of summer films besting Black Widow and Quiet Place 2. 

Kid's movie "Paw Patrol" came in third with about $6.6 million ... a little less than Tom and Jerry and just above "Peter Rabbit 2."

Jungle Cruise crossed the $100 million dollar mark with $5 million for its fourth place finish.

Rankings  5, 6, & 7,  were all in the $2 million dollar tier. Don't Breathe 2 had $2.8 while Respect and Suicide Squad barely crept into the over $2 million category.

"The Protege" and "Night House" came in 8th and 9th. Rounding out the top ten  was "Black Widow," with "Old " and Reminiscence not far behind. 

 Marvel's Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings has a wide tentpole perspective opening Sept. 3. 

Sept. 10 and 17 have a  range of limited releases including Clint Eastwood's "Cry Macho" and 'The Eyes of Tammy Faye."

Copshop (On the run from a lethal assassin, a wily con artist devises a scheme to hide out inside a small-town police station-but when the hitman turns up at the precinct, an unsuspecting rookie cop finds herself caught in the crosshairs) and "Dear Evan Hansen" (Film adaptation of the Tony and Grammy Award-winning musical about Evan Hansen, a high school senior with Social Anxiety disorder and his journey of self-discovery and acceptance following the suicide of a fellow classmate.) are listed as wide on Sept. 17 and Sept. 24.