In news likely to simultaneously delight and appall across the cinema world, a third instalment of IP-bludgeoning slasher ‘Winnie-the-Pooh: Blood and Honey’ has been confirmed by Rhys Frake-Waterfield and Scott Chambers of prolific horror banner Jagged Edge Productions.
According to the producers, ‘Winnie-the-Pooh: Blood and Honey 3’ will have a bigger budget than the previous films and will introduce new characters from the original Winnie-the-Pooh stories, including Rabbit, the heffalumps and the woozles. All will no doubt be given sadistic, murderous twists.
The news comes with ‘Winnie-the-Pooh: Blood and Honey 2’ now in U.S. cinemas as part of its 3-day theatrical run via Fathom Events, and just over a year after the release of the first of what is now a quick-fire three-part franchise.
Despite poor reviews, the original ‘Winnie-the-Pooh: Blood and Honey’ became an unexpected box office smash and cultural talking point in early 2023 for a premise that saw A. A. Milne’s beloved bear turned into a feral, sledgehammer-wielding serial killer. Made for under $50,000, it earned an incredible $5.2 million globally, one of the best budget-to-box office ratios in cinema history.
While box office figures are yet to be released for ‘Winnie-the-Pooh: Blood and Honey 2,’ the film, with a budget believed to be around 10 times that of the first, has been far better received in the genre world, with many declaring it to be a dramatic step-up from its predecessor. That said, PvNew‘s Owen Gleiberman in his review wrote that it was “mostly a shambles,” although he did acknowledge that the sequel had a “a lot more going on,” including “more dismemberings and decapitations and face gougings,” and featured a redesigned Pooh who now “resembles a homicidal version of Jim Carrey’s Grinch.”
The news of a third “Blood and Honey” feature also comes just a week after Jagged Edge unveiled their low-budget horror version of “Avengers: Infinity War” in “Poohniverse: Monsters Assemble,” a crossover film bringing together characters from “Winnie-the-Pooh: Blood and Honey” and various other incoming titles from their so-called Twisted Childhood Universe. Alongside Winnie, the film will feature murderous version of figures including Bambi, Tinkerbell, Pinocchio, Peter Pan, Tigger, Piglet, The Mad Hatter and Sleeping Beauty.
“Poohniverse” is due for release in 2025. Whether it goes into production before “Winnie-the-Pooh: Blood and Honey 3” isn’t yet known.
