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What's the Latest on That Winnie-The-Pooh: Blood and Honey Sequel?
Stream the original film right now exclusively on Peacock.
Hide your kids, hide your wife, and, most important of all, hide the honey pot! Why? Because Jagged Edge Productions will soon return audiences to the 100-Acre-Wood abattoir in a sequel to the indie horror phenomenon, Winnie-the-Pooh: Blood and Honey (the first movie is now exclusively streaming on Peacock). Rhys Frake-Waterfield returns to direct the follow-up, which "was always" part of the original plan, he admitted during a Zoom interview with SYFY WIRE last year.
"We instantly knew, ‘Okay, this is something which can now get established into a bit of a franchise," explained the filmmaker, who co-wrote the sequel alongside Matt Leslie (Summer of 84). "So we need to just start preparing for Number 2.’ In the background, we’re thinking of different ideas and seeing what the people would want. I’m asking a lot of people that, I want to know what their feedback is from [the first movie]. What did they like? What didn’t they like? What do they want more of? What scenes would they be really excited for? We’re slowly taking all of these comments and helping shape what the sequel should be like."
A lot has transpired since that call. Let's get into it.
For More on Winnie-the-Pooh: Blood and Honey:
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5 Things We Want to See in the Winnie the Pooh: Blood and Honey Sequel
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What's the latest on Winnie-the-Pooh: Blood and Honey 2?
Production on the second movie — which apparently had five times the budget of its predecessor (according to an interview the director gave to Variety, it may be even higher than that) — commenced in late August/early September of last year and wrapped several weeks later.
In terms of story, the sophomore chapter in the budding slasher series finds Pooh (Ryan Olivia) and Piglet (Eddy McKenzie) joined by a pair of newcomers, Tigger (Lewis Santer) and Owl (Marcus Massey), as the bloodthirsty pack of animals brings a whole lot of carnage to the unsuspecting community of Ashdown. Speaking to The Hollywood Reporter, Frake-Waterfield promised a "bigger and badder" movie with "new creature designs, a new cast, and a high death count."
“After speaking with Rhys and hearing his vision — his desire to push boundaries in terms of production scope, and to craft a really unique, twisty plot that also gave significant depth to the characters — I knew it was something I wanted to be a part of," added Leslie. "They’re making something special. Something that will absolutely blow people away.”
Tallulah Evans, Kelly Rian Sanson, Simon Callow, Alec Newman, Nicola Wright, Peter DeSouza-Feighoney, Tade Adebaio, and Nichaela Farrel round out the principal cast. Simon Callow is, without question, the biggest name in the movie. A veteran of theater, film, television, the seasoned actor has appeared in such high-profile projects as Amadeus, Four Weddings and a Funeral, Ace Ventura: When Nature Calls, Hawkeye, and The Witcher.
The first blood-soaked trailer debuted in early February 2024 (see above).
When will Winnie-the-Pooh: Blood and Honey 2 be released?
A specific release date has yet to be announced.
"I’m tidying up the edit and we’ve got various departments working on it in terms of the music, sound, grade and animation, VFX, all of that stuff," Frake-Waterfield added during his chat with Variety, which also probed the director about his decision to update the design of the animal killers by adding fur.
"It was very hard," he said. "Because we’ve really pushed the boat as much as we can and it was a very difficult shoot. And elements like that, like having fur on the creatures, it does add an extra level of complexity. For continuity, if you’re going in between when they’re soaked in blood and they’re not soaked in blood, it is harder for those guys to clean them off. But it actually adds a lot, especially on close ups, when you see all the fur and the dimensions to it. It doesn’t just look like latex and rubber, it makes it feel more real."
As for what comes next, a Bambi horror movie (officially titled Bambi: The Reckoning) is also on the way, having secured a plethora of international distribution at Cannes.
"Our idea with these concepts is to create a bit of a multiverse of these different retellings [with] these different characters," Frake-Waterfield told us. "We want Bambi to be like it’s on rabies and a bit Cujo-inspired at points."
How to stream Winnie-the-Pooh: Blood and Honey on Peacock
Winnie-the-Pooh Blood and Honey is now streaming exclusively on Peacock! What's more: Peacock is the first streaming service to house the title outside of VOD platforms.
The platform currently offers two monthly subscription plans: Premium ($5.99 a month with ads) and Premium Plus ($11.99 a month with no ads and download access for certain titles). If you're a student, you can enjoy the Premium plan for just $1.99 for an entire year!
Winnie-the-Pooh: Blood and Honey is now streaming exclusively on Peacock.
Originally published Oct 18, 2023.
