One of the most anticipated titles of the last year, the success of Winnie the Pooh: Blood and Honey depends on who you ask. Some, like Collider’s own Ross Bonaime, absolutely detested the feature (with Bonaime writing in his review that it “overstays its welcome before the opening credits”) while others view the Rhys Frake-Waterfield live-action horror flick as a blossoming cult classic in the vein of it’s “so bad it’s good”. Still, eager audiences were ready to dip their hands into the honey pot with the film’s limited theatrical release raking in $6 million at the box office for the low-budget project. Whether you loved him or hated him, the baddest bear around is officially coming back as Frake-Waterfield is hard at work on a sequel that will begin filming this Fall.
While no plot details have been released at this time, it’s been reported that the budget is even bigger meaning that the returning director will be able to rain down more buckets of blood on the Hundred Acre Wood. Along with an American release, audiences around the globe in countries including France, Italy, Australia, New Zealand, and Germany can expect to feast their eyes on the next slasher massacre. With Christopher Robin (Nikolai Leon) managing to make it out alive while Pooh (Craig David Dowsett) lives on in the forest, we expect the sequel will follow what happens when Christopher reenters civilization.
Planning to make a couple more bucks from beloved children’s titles that have made their way into the public domain, Blood and Honey 2 won’t be Frake-Waterfield’s only upcoming piece. The filmmaker is already attached to two other titles: Bambi: The Reckoning, on which he’ll serve as a writer and producer, and Peter Pan’s Neverland Nightmare, which he’ll direct and produce.
What’s Winnie the Pooh: Blood and Honey About?
Striking while the public domain iron was hot, Jagged Edge Productions picked up the rights to the classic children’s book franchise and turned it into a gruesome and ghastly horror feature. Now an adult, Christopher Robin has brought his human friends to the Hundred Acre Wood to introduce them to his anthropomorphic childhood friends including Winnie the Pooh, Eeyore, and Piglet. Unfortunately, the years since Christopher went off to college have not treated the creatures kindly as they’ve been forced to turn against one another and eat their own to survive. Seeking revenge for what’s become of them, Piglet and Pooh launch a bloodthirsty attack on the humans.
As of right now, no release window has been set, but stay tuned to Collider for more updates. Check out a trailer for Blood and Honey below.