Although not an official Disney film, the horror reimagining of A. A. Milne’s beloved characters, Winnie the Pooh: Blood and Honey (2023), has been mysteriously pulled from over thirty cinematic theaters in China.
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Just days before its release in Hong Kong, the low-budget slasher flick’s premier is now called off, with no word on when it will be rescheduled. The film’s Hong Kong distributors, VII Pillars, broke the news to audiences on Facebook with the following post:
“It is with great regret to announce the scheduled release of ‘Winnie the Pooh: Blood and Honey’ in Hong Kong and Macau on March 23 has been cancelled. We are sorry for the disappointment and inconvenience.”
It would appear that the filmmakers and distributors do not have an apparent reason why the film was pulled. The film’s director, Rhys Frake-Waterfield, told Variety, “suddenly, over the last few days, something has happened which has resulted in multiple cinema chains simultaneously having to remove the showings from their cinemas, which is nothing to do with the film’s quality.”
While there has not been an official reason released to the public, some speculate that this has to do with China’s unusual ban on the Winnie The Pooh character himself. Several years ago, Chinese President Xi Jinping started a feud with the fictional character after a viral meme compared the President’s appearance to the cuddly ‘ol bear.
In China, there is a strict restriction on internet searches for “Winnie The Pooh,” preventing citizens from looking up the character online. There is also a ban on Winnie The Pooh products. Furthermore, Disney’s Christopher Robin (2018) was banned in China as well. However, Hong Kong Disneyland still does feature the character in its Park.
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It’s never a good thing when a film gets pulled early from theaters, regardless of the reason. Fortunately for the moviegoers in Hong Kong, they aren’t missing out on much. Winnie the Pooh: Blood and Honey (2023) has gotten dreadful reviews and has one of the lowest Rotten Tomato scores ever received.
Are you planning on watching Winnie the Pooh: Blood and Honey? Let us know in the comments.