As well as rebooting the horror classic, the 31-year-old is directing a Marvel movie with a $100m-plus budget. No wonder she’s never risked saying ‘Candyman’ five times
“Say it,” implore the posters for the new Candyman sequel, referring to the urban myth that the hook-handed ghost of the title can be summoned by repeating his name five times in front of a mirror. But Nia DaCosta will not say it: “Oh hell, no.” She is shaking her head. “Never have done, never will.” Despite having written and co-directed the film, DaCosta isn’t taking any chances. “In fact, when I was watching auditions, I would get a little freaked out so I’d stop the audition before they said it all five times. So silly,” she admits, laughing at herself. But she is not superstitious, she insists. “It’s just that one bit. Nothing [else] about it scares me at this point. Except … I’m just not gonna put myself in the space for my brain to play tricks on me.”
Probably best not to jinx it. Right now, DaCosta’s career is definitely looking more charmed than cursed. Within the space of three years and three films, she has shot to the top of the industry. Candyman, which was produced by horror supremo Jordan Peele, follows her debut feature Little Woods, a social-realist “western” centred on two impoverished sisters in modern-day North Dakota. Now DaCosta is in London shooting The Marvels – the sequel to Marvel’s blockbuster Captain Marvel, with a budget of well over $100m. Not bad for a film-maker who is not yet 32 years old; unprecedented for a Black, female one. Bright, enthusiastic, fast-talking and quick to laugh, DaCosta still has the air of an unjaded newcomer.
