Credit: DisneyAnother live-action Winnie-the-Pooh film is officially in development. Disney fans rejoice! Right..? Well, not so fast.
If you came here looking for another wonderful live-action adaptation like Disney’s Christopher Robin (2018), you’ll be terribly disappointed. We’re talking about the sequel to the British independent horror film, Winnie-the-Pooh: Blood and Honey (2023).
Recently, the “Disney” horror sequel Winnie-the-Pooh: Blood and Honey 2 (TBA) shared the first image of the titular honey-guzzling resident of Hundred Acre Wood, who’s been given a bit of an upgrade, which likely owes thanks to the fact its predecessor grossed $5.2 million at the global box office against a modest budget of $100,000.
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He still doesn’t look like the silly old bear we all know and love, of course (thankfully), but he does look a lot less like a madman in a mask this time and more like, well, an evil bear. Fortunately, the filmmakers are prohibited from creating any actual likeness with the real Winnie the Pooh.
Now, the horror sequel has also unveiled its version of Tigger, the anthropomorphic tiger who, despite not appearing in the first film as he wasn’t at the time part of the public domain (though he will come 2024, just before the film’s release), will now be joining his old pal Winnie the Pooh on a new killing spree.
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Per IGN, you can check out the exclusive new images of Tigger (who looks more like a mutated version of Roo, to tell you the truth) by clicking here.
The first “Disney” horror film, Winnie-the-Pooh: Blood and Honey, was also “based” (yes, we use the term very loosely) exclusively on AA Milne’s classic 1926 children’s novel, which Tigger does not appear in. But the filmmakers have now managed to get their claws into the poor cat, and who knows which other characters.
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Scott Jeffrey, producer of the upcoming sequel, told IGN that “Tigger [in Winnie-the-Pooh: Blood and Honey 2] is incredibly violent” and that “he loves to torture his victims before killing them,” which is sure to have fans of the iconic Disney character tearing their hair out in despair (or excitement, though we very much doubt it).
Jeffrey went on to say that the upcoming film has “a substantially higher budget so [director] Rhys Frake-Waterfield is really able to create a shocking, explosive and gore-filled movie. I truly think people will really dig what we are creating.”
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Frake-Waterfield recently told CinePop (via NME) that the crew behind the Blood and Honey films is hoping to develop a “shared cinematic universe” that would involve crossovers between Pooh and other Disney characters who are now in the public domain.
Other “Disney” horror films currently in development from the same studio are Peter Pan: Neverland Nightmare (TBA) and Bambi: The Reckoning (TBA).
Earlier this year, the director said he’d also like to get his hands on the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles and the Teletubbies. Thankfully those properties remain sacred, as they aren’t part of the public domain.
Frake-Waterfield describes the plot for the first film as follows:
“Christopher Robin is pulled away from them, and he’s not [given] them food, it’s made Pooh and Piglet’s life quite difficult… Because they’ve had to fend for themselves so much, they’ve essentially become feral. So they’ve gone back to their animal roots. They’re no longer tame: they’re like a vicious bear and pig who want to go around and try and find prey.”
Winnie-the-Pooh: Blood And Honey 2 is expected to arrive in theaters in 2024.
What do you think of these new Tigger images? Let Inside the Magic know in the comments down below!