Blood And Honey's Director Plans To Bring More Of Winnie-The-Pooh's Pals To The Dark Side
Anyone that was shocked to find out that the beloved characters of the "Winnie the Pooh" franchise made for children were going to get the slasher horror film treatment should brace for impact because, according to the director of "Winnie the Pooh: Blood and Honey," there are plans in the works for more personas from the hundred-acre wood to provide a chilling cinematic experience for viewers.
When the "Winnie the Pooh" book that was first published in 1926 went into the public domain in 2022, Rhys Frake-Waterfield didn't waste any time turning the honey-loving bear and his band of talking animal friends of Christopher Robin into feral monsters devoted to bloodshed and murder. The writer and director ended up putting together a 100-minute feature, with Collider referring to the first images released as "nightmare fuel."
According to Variety, they were able to pull off the terrifying ordeal for under $100,000. The bold and daring concept of taking such a family-friendly property into the blood-soaked horror genre was a risky venture, but it apparently has paid off. The movie was released in Mexico on January 26, 2023, and grossed over a million dollars at the box office, a number that will grow as the film expands into different markets. It seems pretty safe to assume that Winnie the Pooh's horror career is off to a solid start, and if people thought the nightmare was over then think again because the mind behind it all has much more in store for fans of the frightening fledgling franchise.
More characters from the children's classic are going to get in on the mayhem
A murderous Winnie the Pooh (Craig David Dowsett) and killer Piglet (Chris Cordell) were just the beginning of this story, as the franchise intends to expand to include other characters from the Winne the Pooh saga to terrorize audiences every time they enter the frame. While talking about how he felt it best not to overwhelm audiences with a plethora of psychotic versions of Pooh's pals in "Blood and Honey," writer and director Rhys Frake-Waterfield said he is looking forward to bringing more franchise players into the mix.
"I do want to introduce more characters in the later ones," Frake-Waterfield said in an interview with Yahoo. "I also felt like it would be a bit much on a first iteration to have more characters involved in the horror because it would be a bit like a boy band walking around, breaking into houses, and killing everyone! I wanted the focus to be on Pooh for this one, whereas later on more characters will be introduced."
And the nightmare won't stop at just Winnie the Pooh personalities, as Frake-Waterfield has previously announced plans for a cinematic universe consisting of dark versions of other characters as well. "The idea is that we're going to try and imagine they're all in the same world, so we can have crossovers," the "Winnie the Pooh: Blood and Honey" director said. "People have been messaging saying they really want to see Bambi versus Pooh." So, in addition to Winnie the Pooh and his buddies, fans can look forward to scary takes on Bambi, Thor, Tinkerbell, and Peter Pan at some point in the future.