It seems another horror film using well known characters, that Disney also uses, is in the works by the same studio that brought us ‘Winnie the Pooh: Blood and Honey.’ This time the focus is on the now public domain ‘Peter Pan.’
The director of the Winnie the Pooh horror film, Rhys Frake-Waterfield, is apparently doing a sequel to the Blood and Honey movie and developing a new horror film based on Peter Pan called ‘Peter Pan: Neverland Nightmare.”
Like Winnie the Pooh, Peter Pan, created by J.M. Barrie in 1902, is now in the public domain. This allows people like Frake-Waterfield the ability to use the characters from the book. Of course this does not mean that they can make them look the same as the Disney versions of the characters, as those versions would still be under Disney’s control.
So far we don’t know much about this project other than the name, but I can see where ‘Peter Pan’ could lend itself to a darker version given story points like his rebellious shadow, the Lost Boys, pixie dust, mermaids and a pirate captain who is obsessed with Pan.
Also consider that many say the story of the Lost Boys is a dark one already. It is said that the author was obsessed with death from a young age after his older brother was killed in an accident, many interpret the boys never growing up to being dead, killed by Peter Pan.
Then there are the mermaids in the book. They seemingly hate everyone except Peter and are said to turn into “dark creatures” when the moon is out. Captain Hook referred to them as “lorelei” which is a siren creature from German legend. Sirens of course lure sailors and their ships into the rocks and their death.
The source material alone is full of characters and ideas that would translate to a horror movie.
It does seem that Jagged Edge Productions and ITN Films are gaining momentum with their horror adaptations because ‘Winnie the Pooh: Love and Honey’ has just been granted a short theatrical, one-day release in the United States through Fathom Events on February 15, 2023. The film will also be available in the U.K., Mexico and Canada through other distribution companies.
What do you think? Comment and let us know!
Sources: The Hollywood Reporter, Bloody Disgusting, Writing To Bread
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