Does Candyman Haunt Capitalists in Chicago’s Cabrini-Green?

We’re just asking questions.

Like the classic 1992 horror film Candyman, the 2021 sequel takes place in Chicago’s Cabrini-Green neighborhood. (Universal Pictures)


The sequel to the classic 1992 horror film Candyman, directed by Nia DaCosta and produced by Jordan Peele, premiered at theaters across the country on Friday. Set in Chicago’s Cabrini-Green neighborhood, the new Candyman takes place decades after the original legend of a supernatural being who stalked a public housing project in the early 1990s.

But there’s one theater in Chicago that won’t screen the film — the ArcLight Cinema just north of Cabrini-Green that replaced the New City YMCA. The reason why is enough to make even skeptics a bit superstitious.

The original public housing buildings, Cabrini-Green Homes, were constructed through the 1940s and ’50s as part of the broader “urban renewal” approach to city planning that swept the country in the mid-20th century. The project was celebrated by city leaders as an example of a new Chicago to come.

This article is for subscribers only. Please login or subscribe to access our full archives and beautiful print and digital magazine starting at just $3 a month.