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A Winnie-the-Pooh slasher film is getting the sequel treatment, and the newly-minted “Twisted Childhood Universe (TCU)” is getting its first major crossover event.
Just months after Winnie-the-Pooh entered the public domain in 2022, Jagged Edge Productions and ITN Studios made waves for producing Winnie-the-Pooh: Blood and Honey, a slasher film depicting A.A. Milne’s beloved characters of the Hundred Acre Wood as feral, blood-hungry killers. Despite very, very negative critical reception (it has a 3% on Rotten Tomatoes), the film made $5 million at the box office on a $50,000 budget, and led to other planned horror films featuring children’s characters now in the public domain like Bambi, Pinocchio, and the characters of Peter Pan.
Now, a grand cinematic crossover event with these characters is imminent: Poohniverse: Monsters Assemble will hit theaters in 2025. As reported by Variety, the Avengers-style low-budget horror crossover will see Winnie-the-Pooh join villainous forces with Bambi, Tinkerbell, Pinocchio, Sleeping Beauty, Peter Pan, Tigger, Piglet, The Mad Hatter, and more.
Jagged Edge and ITN revealed to Variety that they’re planning a significant lead up to Monsters Assemble: In addition to a Winnie-the-Pooh sequel Blood and Honey 2 (out March 26th), the Twisted Childhood Universe will gain the new entries Bambi: The Reckoning, Peter Pan’s Neverland Nightmare, and Pinocchio Unstrung this year. Blood and Honey director Rhys Frake-Waterfield will also helm Poohniverse, and told Variety “We’ve got access to all these concepts so it’s like a self-contained bubble and we can do what we want with them. So yeah, it’s really exciting.”
Though plot details are still under wraps, Variety confirms that Poohniverse: Monsters Assemble will be less of a Suicide Squad-style villain team up and more of a “monster vs. monster” film. See below for the film’s poster, which is exactly as unhinged as you’d expect.
Jagged Edge and ITN aren’t the only ones capitalizing on the influx of beloved properties becoming available via public domain. A “Steamboat Willie” Micky Mouse slasher film is in the works, “Mary Had a Little Lamb” got the horror treatment, and a 2023 Grinch remake found the titular character on a murderous rampage.
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