Ever since the first pictures of the upcoming horror movie Winnie the Pooh: Blood and Honey were released, it was pretty obvious that the movie wasn’t running on the same production budget as Avatar: The Way of Water, or even Halloween ends. The micro-budget slasher movie was clearly on the cheaper side, but in keeping with the history of horror film as a genre, would we have any other way? While no official numbers have been confirmed, the team behind the impending move did provide a clear indication of the budget for Winnie the Pooh: Blood and Honeyand as you might have guessed, it wasn’t much.
Speak with Variety in an interview, sources at production companies Jagged Edge and ITN Films confirmed that the film’s price tag was under $100,000, with commerce even describing it as “less than a hundredth of M3GANhas a $12 million budget.” Even before that Winnie the Pooh: Blood and Honey was released in the United States later this month, it is also already profitable. Over the weekend, the movie premiered in theaters in Mexico, and even though it was the #4 movie on the chart, it still managed to gross over $700,000. By the time Winnie the Pooh: Blood and Honey opened worldwide, it could make its budget look like breadcrumbs.
“Because I know, annoyingly enough, in this industry it’s very much about, ‘Oh, you’re the person who did this.’ It’s not always [about] your ability,” revealed co-producer Scott Jeffrey. They’re ridiculous things. But the end goal – when I’m finally where I want to be – is serious filmmaking.”
Jeffrey also revealed the larger “formula” he has used to make his films, which involves just three simple steps, including: characters that are in the public domain, adding a genre like horror or sci-fi to them, and instant sequels come up with, and sell everything directly to viewers. Titles they’ve created using this formula include The Curse of Humpty Dumpty, Tooth Fairy (1 to 5), Amityville Scarecrow, Jack & Jill: The Hills of Hell, and others.
The official synopsis for Winnie the Pooh: Blood and Honey reads: “The days of adventure and merriment are at an end, as Christopher Robin, now a young man, has left Winnie-the-Pooh and Piglet to fend for themselves. As time passes , feeling angry and abandoned, the two become feral. After tasting blood, Winnie-the-Pooh and Piglet set off in search of a new food source. It’s not long before their bloody rampage begins.”
A co-production between Jagged Edge Productions and ITN Studios, Winnie the Pooh: Blood and Honey is directed by filmmaker Rhys Waterfield. The film will be in American cinemas for almost a week, from Wednesday, February 15 to Monday, February 23.
