# Nia DaCosta
**Nia DaCosta** is an American film director and screenwriter from Brooklyn, New York, whose features span independent drama, horror, superhero cinema, and literary adaptation: *Little Woods* (2018), *Candyman* (2021), *The Marvels* (2023), *Hedda* (2025), and *28 Years Later: The Bone Temple* (2026).[1](https://www.bfi.org.uk/interviews/nia-dacosta-28-years-later-bone-temple) She was the first Black woman to direct a [Marvel Studios](https://www.edgepedia.org/marvel-studios) film.[2](https://andscape.com/features/candyman-and-the-genesis-of-a-haunting/)
| Key fact | Detail |
|---|---|
| Background | Brooklyn-born; BFA 2011, Kanbar Institute of Film & TV, NYU Tisch School of the Arts[1](https://www.bfi.org.uk/interviews/nia-dacosta-28-years-later-bone-temple) • [3](https://tisch.home.nyu.edu/film-tv/news/2026/q-a-with-ugftv-alum-nia-dacosta) |
| Breakthrough | *Little Woods* (2018), developed at the Sundance Institute Directors and Screenwriters Labs; won the Nora Ephron Prize[4](https://www.sundance.org/blogs/nia-dacosta-sets-a-new-bar-for-rising-directors/) • [5](https://www.sagindie.org/interviews/nia-dacosta-little-woods/) |
| *Candyman* (2021) | Jordan Peele-produced sequel to the 1992 film, co-written with Peele and Win Rosenfeld[6](https://www.independent.co.uk/arts-entertainment/films/features/candyman-release-date-nia-dacosta-b1909815.html) |
| Marvel milestone | First Black woman to direct a Marvel Studios movie, but not its youngest filmmaker (*The Marvels*, 2023)[2](https://andscape.com/features/candyman-and-the-genesis-of-a-haunting/) • [7](https://www.irishtimes.com/culture/film/hidden-horrors-remaking-candyman-for-the-black-lives-matter-era-1.4654011) |
| *Hedda* (2025) | Reimagining of Henrik Ibsen's 1891 play *Hedda Gabler*, written for Tessa Thompson, set in the 1950s[8](https://www.thewrap.com/hedda-review-tessa-thompson-nia-dacosta/) • [9](https://apnews.com/article/7ddbe84deb11717b37bd29a668e4c8bc) |
| *28 Years Later: The Bone Temple* (2026) | Second installment of the *28 Years Later* trilogy, from an Alex Garland script; opened January 16, 2026 with $13 million in its first weekend[10](https://time.com/7294568/28-years-later-danny-boyle-interview/) • [11](https://apnews.com/article/d5804b554898dd9473e8fdab100f7f52) |
## Early career and Little Woods
DaCosta graduated from New York University's Tisch School of the Arts in 2011 with a BFA from the Kanbar Institute of Film & [Television](https://www.edgepedia.org/television).[3](https://tisch.home.nyu.edu/film-tv/news/2026/q-a-with-ugftv-alum-nia-dacosta) After film school she applied to the Sundance Institute's Screenwriters Lab, expecting rejection, and was accepted; her project went on to twelve Institute programs, including the 2015 Directors Lab, and the Catalyst Forum taught her how to seek financing so she could begin shooting in 2017.[4](https://www.sundance.org/blogs/nia-dacosta-sets-a-new-bar-for-rising-directors/)
The resulting film, *Little Woods*, is a rural drama set in a [North Dakota](https://www.edgepedia.org/north-dakota) oil boomtown, about two estranged sisters who have one week to pay back their dead mother's mortgage.[4](https://www.sundance.org/blogs/nia-dacosta-sets-a-new-bar-for-rising-directors/) • [12](https://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/little_woods) DaCosta wrote and directed it, saying she wanted to tell a story about women in rural America, a subject she felt the media rarely covered.[5](https://www.sagindie.org/interviews/nia-dacosta-little-woods/) She met [Tessa Thompson](https://www.edgepedia.org/tessa-thompson) at the Sundance lab, and Thompson starred alongside [Lily James](https://www.edgepedia.org/lily-james), with Luke Kirby, James Badge Dale, and Lance Reddick in supporting roles.[4](https://www.sundance.org/blogs/nia-dacosta-sets-a-new-bar-for-rising-directors/) • [5](https://www.sagindie.org/interviews/nia-dacosta-little-woods/) The film premiered at the Tribeca Film Festival, where it won DaCosta the Nora Ephron Prize, and Neon released it in limited theaters on April 19, 2019; it grossed $147.1K in the United States and holds a 95% Tomatometer score on Rotten Tomatoes.[5](https://www.sagindie.org/interviews/nia-dacosta-little-woods/) • [12](https://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/little_woods)
## Candyman
For her second feature, DaCosta directed *Candyman* (2021), a direct sequel to Bernard Rose's 1992 horror film based on [Clive Barker](https://www.edgepedia.org/clive-barker)'s short story "The Forbidden." [Jordan Peele](https://www.edgepedia.org/jordan-peele) produced, and DaCosta co-wrote the screenplay with Peele and Win Rosenfeld.[6](https://www.independent.co.uk/arts-entertainment/films/features/candyman-release-date-nia-dacosta-b1909815.html) The film stars [Yahya Abdul-Mateen II](https://www.edgepedia.org/yahya-abdul-mateen-ii) as Anthony, a Chicago painter with a mysterious connection to the Cabrini-Green housing projects.[13](https://www.latimes.com/entertainment-arts/movies/story/2021-08-26/candyman-sequel-explained-nia-dacosta-jordan-peele)
DaCosta used the sequel to reframe the original's treatment of race. She told TIME that the 1992 film "definitely fed into a fear of the Black community, and the Black man in particular," and that she wanted to separate the monster from the community itself, portraying Cabrini-Green as a community chronically underserved rather than a place of inherent menace.[14](https://time.com/6092375/candyman-cabrini-green-true-story/) Critics and scholars have read the film as addressing systemic racism, police brutality, and gentrification.[6](https://www.independent.co.uk/arts-entertainment/films/features/candyman-release-date-nia-dacosta-b1909815.html) Its release was delayed about a year by the Covid-19 pandemic.[7](https://www.irishtimes.com/culture/film/hidden-horrors-remaking-candyman-for-the-black-lives-matter-era-1.4654011)
## The Marvels
While still in production on *Candyman*, DaCosta was enlisted to direct *The Marvels* (2023), the sequel to *Captain Marvel* (2019), making her the first Black woman to direct a Marvel Studios film and, at 31, the youngest filmmaker given the reins of a Marvel movie.[2](https://andscape.com/features/candyman-and-the-genesis-of-a-haunting/) • [7](https://www.irishtimes.com/culture/film/hidden-horrors-remaking-candyman-for-the-black-lives-matter-era-1.4654011) The film unites [Brie Larson](https://www.edgepedia.org/brie-larson) as [Carol Danvers](https://www.edgepedia.org/carol-danvers) with [Teyonah Parris](https://www.edgepedia.org/teyonah-parris)'s Monica Rambeau and Iman Vellani's Kamala Khan, whose powers swap places with one another's whenever they are used; Samuel L. Jackson also appears.[15](https://apnews.com/article/6ef633158e01448b607cdc86fd94535e) It opened in theaters on November 10, 2023.[15](https://apnews.com/article/6ef633158e01448b607cdc86fd94535e)
The film underperformed at the box office, and DaCosta later spoke candidly about the production. She said one of her issues with both *Candyman* and *The Marvels* was "the lack of a really solid script, which is always gonna just wreak havoc on the whole process," and she described the film as ultimately "a Kevin Feige production."[16](https://www.cinemablend.com/superheroes/marvel-cinematic-universe/the-marvels-director-gets-real-issues-film-nia-dacosta) • [17](https://libres.uncg.edu/ir/uncg/f/Cavalieri_uncg_0154M_14139.pdf) Before release she had framed the project as a deliberately strange, wacky space opera, and cited advice from *Black Panther* director [Ryan Coogler](https://www.edgepedia.org/ryan-coogler): "Be yourself."[15](https://apnews.com/article/6ef633158e01448b607cdc86fd94535e)
## Hedda and 28 Years Later: The Bone Temple
DaCosta's fourth feature, *Hedda* (2025), adapts [Henrik Ibsen](https://www.edgepedia.org/henrik-ibsen)'s 1891 play *Hedda Gabler*, moving the story to the 1950s and starring Tessa Thompson in the title role; DaCosta wrote the part for Thompson, her friend since the Sundance Labs.[8](https://www.thewrap.com/hedda-review-tessa-thompson-nia-dacosta/) • [9](https://apnews.com/article/7ddbe84deb11717b37bd29a668e4c8bc) The film was produced for Amazon MGM.[8](https://www.thewrap.com/hedda-review-tessa-thompson-nia-dacosta/)
She then directed *28 Years Later: The Bone Temple* (2026), the second installment of the trilogy begun by [Danny Boyle](https://www.edgepedia.org/danny-boyle)'s *28 Years Later* (2025), from a script by [Alex Garland](https://www.edgepedia.org/alex-garland). Boyle said the choice of DaCosta was intended to "break up the boys club," and the film was shot back-to-back with its predecessor.[10](https://time.com/7294568/28-years-later-danny-boyle-interview/) Released by Sony Pictures on January 16, 2026, the film stars Ralph Fiennes as Dr. Ian Kelson and Jack O'Connell as the cult leader Jimmy Crystal, alongside Alfie Williams.[18](https://www.sonypictures.com/movies/28yearslaterthebonetemple) It opened in 3,506 North American theaters and took $13 million through its first Sunday, finishing second behind *Avatar: Fire and Ash*.[11](https://apnews.com/article/d5804b554898dd9473e8fdab100f7f52)
## Themes and method
DaCosta has described a deliberate alternation of genres, moving from independent drama into horror, then a superhero film, then a literary adaptation and a franchise horror sequel, to avoid being pigeonholed as a female director who started with an independent drama.[1](https://www.bfi.org.uk/interviews/nia-dacosta-28-years-later-bone-temple) Her work repeatedly returns to social themes: *Little Woods* examines working-class economic anxiety, and *Candyman* layers Black trauma and gentrification into its supernatural horror.[19](https://thecriticalcritics.com/director/nia-dacosta/) • [20](https://tmng-al.uspto.gov/resting2/api/casedoc/cms/case/99226486/office-action/OfficeAction7966427.pdf) On craft, she rehearses for one or two weeks on every film, and for *The Bone Temple* she drew on Stanley Kubrick's *Barry Lyndon* (1975) for its use of Schubert and Handel and its filming of the countryside.[1](https://www.bfi.org.uk/interviews/nia-dacosta-28-years-later-bone-temple)
## References
1. [Nia DaCosta on 28 Years Later: The Bone Temple, BFI](https://www.bfi.org.uk/interviews/nia-dacosta-28-years-later-bone-temple)
2. [Candyman and the genesis of a haunting, Andscape](https://andscape.com/features/candyman-and-the-genesis-of-a-haunting/)
3. [Washington Square News Q&A with UGFTV Alum Nia DaCosta, NYU Tisch](https://tisch.home.nyu.edu/film-tv/news/2026/q-a-with-ugftv-alum-nia-dacosta)
4. [Straight Out of Sundance: Nia DaCosta Sets a New Bar for Rising Directors, Sundance Institute](https://www.sundance.org/blogs/nia-dacosta-sets-a-new-bar-for-rising-directors/)
5. [Filmmaker Interview: Nia DaCosta, director of Little Woods, SAGindie](https://www.sagindie.org/interviews/nia-dacosta-little-woods/)
6. [How the new Candyman digs deep into racism, trauma and radical justice, The Independent](https://www.independent.co.uk/arts-entertainment/films/features/candyman-release-date-nia-dacosta-b1909815.html)
7. [Hidden horrors: Remaking Candyman for the Black Lives Matter era, The Irish Times](https://www.irishtimes.com/culture/film/hidden-horrors-remaking-candyman-for-the-black-lives-matter-era-1.4654011)
8. [Hedda Review: Nia DaCosta and Tessa Thompson Nail Ibsen Classic, TheWrap](https://www.thewrap.com/hedda-review-tessa-thompson-nia-dacosta/)
9. [Tessa Thompson finds her own Hedda, AP News](https://apnews.com/article/7ddbe84deb11717b37bd29a668e4c8bc)
10. [Why the 28 Years Later Franchise Has Always Been About More Than Zombies, TIME](https://time.com/7294568/28-years-later-danny-boyle-interview/)
11. [Box Office: 28 Years Later: The Bone Temple opens behind Avatar: Fire and Ash, AP News](https://apnews.com/article/d5804b554898dd9473e8fdab100f7f52)
12. [Little Woods, Rotten Tomatoes](https://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/little_woods)
13. [Reviving Candyman: How Jordan Peele and Nia DaCosta made more than a sequel, Los Angeles Times](https://www.latimes.com/entertainment-arts/movies/story/2021-08-26/candyman-sequel-explained-nia-dacosta-jordan-peele)
14. [How Candyman Reclaims the History of Cabrini-Green, TIME](https://time.com/6092375/candyman-cabrini-green-true-story/)
15. [Nia DaCosta makes her mark on Marvel history with The Marvels, AP News](https://apnews.com/article/6ef633158e01448b607cdc86fd94535e)
16. [The Marvels Director Gets Real About One Of The Issues She Had With The Film, CinemaBlend](https://www.cinemablend.com/superheroes/marvel-cinematic-universe/the-marvels-director-gets-real-issues-film-nia-dacosta)
17. [Cavalieri, UNCG master's thesis citing DaCosta interview](https://libres.uncg.edu/ir/uncg/f/Cavalieri_uncg_0154M_14139.pdf)
18. [28 Years Later: The Bone Temple, Sony Pictures Entertainment](https://www.sonypictures.com/movies/28yearslaterthebonetemple)
19. [Archives for Nia DaCosta as a Director, The Critical Critics](https://thecriticalcritics.com/director/nia-dacosta/)
20. [USPTO Office Action citing DaCosta's Candyman](https://tmng-al.uspto.gov/resting2/api/casedoc/cms/case/99226486/office-action/OfficeAction7966427.pdf)
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*Topic: Encyclopedia › Arts and culture › Screen and stage › Film and television › Films and standalone screen works › Film people and crafts › Directors, producers, and screenwriters › Women film directors*
*Initially written Sep 17, 2026 · Reviewed: Oct 25, 2026 · Edited: Oct 12, 2026; Oct 15, 2026; Oct 25, 2026 · Last review: Oct 25, 2026*
*Copyright 2026 EdgeChat AI, a subsidiary of Biostate AI.*
License: Edgepedia Community License 1.0, https://www.edgepedia.org/edgepedia/license