The new Candyman, produced by Jordan Peele (Get Out, Us, Lovecraft Country) and directed by Nia DaCosta (Little Woods) is so popular, it’s already considered a landmark success. It hit number one at the box office on its opening week, a historic first for a black woman director — especially noteworthy because the film “didn’t play it safe.”

Building on Peele’s reputation and DaCosta’s talent, it combined, according to IndieWire, “an element of danger, a sense of the unknown, strong IP [intellectual property] and execution: That’s a good lesson for producers who fear taking risks.”

But what exactly makes Candyman so risky isn’t spelled out. On paper, it has all the right ingredients for a box-office success. Not only are horror films a winning genre right now, but Peele’s got a solid track record for delivering a specific (and profitable) strain of horror drawn from the black American experience. Throw in some cult-classic IP (1992’s original Candyman) to base it on, and you have what any executive could identify as a highly anticipated sequel.