Hold on to your honey, horror fans, becausethe bloodyWinnie-the-Poohcrossover event we’ve all been waiting for just got a major update. Cameras will begin rolling in March 2025 onPoohniverse: Monsters Assemble, which will bring together a plethora of public domain characters in what’s known asThe Twisted Childhood Universe, created by Rhys Frake-Waterfield. The series began with 2023’sWinnie-the-Pooh: Blood and Honey, which managed to earn $7.7 million at the box office against a minuscule budget of $100,000.
The carnage continued in this year’sWinnie-the-Pooh: Blood and Honey 2, which earned a slightly lower amount than its predecessor, taking in $7.6 million. Based on its successful profit to budget ratio so far, though,Deadlineis reporting thatPoohniverse: Monsters Assemblehas alreadybeen pre-sold around the world before a single frame has even been shot. Clearly, worldwide distributors that snatched up the rights to the film are banking on the crossover to be a big hit, and they have no reason to think otherwise based on how well it’s done at the box office up to this point.
Pinocchio: Unstrung Details Reveal ‘Lots of Practical Gore’ and Skin Suits in R-rated Reimagining
The makers of Winnie-the-Pooh: Blood and Honey promise more carnage as they work toward their end goal of a shared universe.
In addition to being distributed here in North America by ITN, the film will also be released worldwide thanks to a number of companies that have bought into what Frake-Waterfield is selling.This includes Latin America (BF Distribution), Germany and Italy (Plaion), UK (Altitude), Benelux (ND Pictures), France (Factoris), Australia and New Zealand (Umbrella), Turkey (BG Films), Russia/CIS (Voxell), Japan (New Select), Taiwan (Movie Cloud), Malaysia (Mega Films), Mongolia (Filmbridge) and Pakistan (Cine Entertainment).
Peter Pan, Bambi, and Pinocchio Will Get Their Own Horror Movies Leading Into ‘Poohniverse’
Though principal photography onPoohniverse: Monsters Assembleis set to get underway next year, the film is eyeballing a 2026 release to allow other characters to shine before they appear in the crossover event. First up areBambi: The ReckoningandPeter Pan’s Nerverland Nightmare, both of which are expected to hit theaters in Q1 of 2025. Martin Portlock will portray the boy who never grows up in the latter, while Roxanne McKee will portray Xana in the former, a mother who is stalked by Bambi after her car collides with his mother.
From there we’ll getPinocchio: Unstrung, which has tapped horror legend Robert Englund (A Nightmare on Elm Street)to star as Cricket, and Richard Brake (Barbarian) as Geppetto. The film sees the woodcarver introduce Pinocchio to his grandson, who in turn shows him all the horrors the world has to offer. In a quest to get rid of evil, the naïve puppet then goes on a bloody reign of terror.
Those three films, coupled with the aforementionedWinnie-the-Poohseries, will then bring together all the surviving characters inPoohniverse: Monsters Assemble, while at the same time introducing new ones to lead the franchise forward. It’s a lot to keep up with, we know, but the end result promises to be a spectacular crossover that will rival anything the MCU has to offer.
