Divisive 2023 horror movie Winnie the Pooh: Blood and Honey caught a lot of backlash from fans – but producer says they never gave the movie a chance

Highly divisive 2023 horror movie Winnie the Pooh: Blood and Honey had Disney fans up in arms as soon as its first bloody trailer dropped, but producer Scott Jeffrey says they actually worked really hard on the movie, so much so the director got physically ill.

"We had to really grow a thick skin, especially on Winnie-The-Pooh: Blood And Honey," says Jeffrey in the new issue of SFX magazine, which features Daredevil: Born Again on the cover and hits newsstands on January 29. "People were saying we were lazy on all this. People might not like it, but no one was lazy making it. It was hell to make that film. We had so many problems. Rhys [Frake-Waterfield] threw up on the set, it was so stressful."

The movie first came about when Winnie the Pooh entered the public domain, meaning anyone can use the character's name and likeliness, even in a gorefest like Blood and Honey. Although the bloody take on childhood icon Pooh Bear and his buddy Piglet proved to be a success with horror fans, Disney lovers were not too impressed. However, Jeffrey feels that many of the people who were throwing hate towards the movie, never really gave the film a chance.

"No film is easy to make. Some people are going into these Winnie-The-Pooh films and they're wanting to hate them before they've even seen them. It's like, 'Well you're going to hate it, aren't you? You're not going to have a good time if you go into them so negative, so just stop,'" added Jeffrey, who serves as co-founder of Jagged Edge Productions alongside Frake-Waterfield. "Anyway, whatever. They'll do what they do. But we've got an audience, and hopefully they'll keep coming back."

However, it looks like the filmmakers didn't let the backlash get to them too much as they have since released sequel Winnie-the-Pooh: Blood and Honey II, as well as kicking off a whole franchise of Disney movies turned into slashers. Next up in Jagged Edge’s Twisted Childhood Universe is a twisted take on Peter Pan, which portrays Peter as an angel of death of sorts and Neverland as the Afterlife.

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Peter Pan's Neverland Nightmare is out now in the US and releases on February 24 in the UK. Read more in the latest issue of SFX magazine, which will be available from Wednesday, January 29. Check out the Daredevil: Born Again cover to look for on newsstands below...

I'm the Junior Social Media Editor here at GamesRadar+, handling all of Total Film's social platforms. However, I also write, covering all things film and TV for the site's entertainment section. I joined GamesRadar+ in 2023 and have been here ever since. I previously worked in communications after graduating with an MA in journalism. In my spare time, you can find me binging horror movies or getting lost in a cosy little game on my Switch.