Winnie the Pooh: Blood and Honey has a ton of buzz surrounding it. Not necessarily good buzz but it is a lot of buzz nonetheless. Director, Rhys Frake-Waterfield has found himself in the hot seat over the production of the new film. In fact, Winnie the Pooh fans have gone all out and petitioned against the film and even made death threats to the director over the last few weeks.
Winnie the Pooh is the property of Disney but the original books that they are based on by author A.A. Milne, are public domain. That has lead the film being able to selectively pick elements from the story without touching any of the additions made by Disney.
“Look, this is mental,” Frake-Waterfield, told the Agence France-Presse (AFP). “I’ve had petitions to stop it. I’ve had death threats. I’ve had people saying they called the police.”
The tiny budget of $250,000 is expected to make quite a lot of money back and then some. Originally, the film was meant to release straight to video on demand before receiving a theatrical release due to the massive buzz.
The synopsis for Winnie the Pooh: Blood and Honey follows Pooh and Piglet, who have now become feral and bloodthirsty murderers, as they terrorize a group of young university women and an adult Christopher Robin when he returns to the Hundred Acre Wood many years later after leaving for college.
Frake-Waterfield thinks the entire thing is insane, but on the bright side and outside of the death threats, the crazy buzz has brought the film mass popularity and ticket sales that it may have not received prior to all the hubbub.
Winnie the Pooh: Blood and Honey is currently playing in select theaters.
