Horror film Winnie-The-Pooh: Blood And Honey will not be released in Hong Kong or Macau, according to distributor VII Pillars Entertainment.
On its Facebook page, the Hong Kong-based distributor said it was with “great regret” that the low-budget slasher would not meet its planned theatrical release date in both territories on Thursday (March 23). No reason was given for the last-minute withdrawal from 32 screens.
Hong Kong censor The Office for Film, Newspaper and Article Administration (OFNAA) had issued a certificate of approval for the film at the beginning of March, issuing a Category III rating, meaning it could only be shown to cinemagoers aged 18 or over.
Chinese censors have previously targeted the character of Winnie the Pooh due to comparisons between the cartoon version of the bear and president Xi Jinping. Images of Winnie the Pooh have also been used as a symbol of protest.
Ray Fong, general manager of VII Pillars, told Screen: ”We can confirm that the film cannot be exhibited in cinemas in both Hong Kong and Macau on March 23.
”We had commitments from 32 screens in both territories but we were notified by cinemas on Monday that the film cannot be released as scheduled. We do not know the reason, to be honest. We just got notified by cinemas.”
Fong added: ”All censorship requirements are passed, all censorship certificates are issued, and valid. And we have not received notification from OFNAA to withdraw the film, nor any other issues about the film.”
UK filmmaker Rhys Frake-Waterfield directed Winnie-The-Pooh: Blood And Honey last year, nearly a century after the copyright on A. A. Milne’s 1926 book ‘Winnie-The-Pooh’ lapsed in the US on January 1 2022 and entered the public domain, leaving it open to interpretation.
Reportedly made for less than $100,000 by the UK’s Jagged Edge Productions, the story follows Pooh and Piglet as they turn feral and embark on a murderous rampage when Christopher Robin goes off to college. It has taken more than $4.1m at the worldwide box office to date, including $1.75m in the US and $1m in Mexico.
Director Frake-Waterfield told Reuters that “something mysterious” had happened.
“The cinemas agreed to show it, then all independently come to the same decision overnight. It won’t be a coincidence,” he said. “They claim technical reasons but there is no technical reason. The film has showed in over 4,000 cinema screens worldwide. These 30+ screens in Hong Kong are the only ones with such issues.”
An OFNAA spokesperson told Reuters: “The arrangements of cinemas in Hong Kong on the screening of individual films with certificates of approval in their premises are the commercial decisions of the cinemas concerned, and OFNAA would not comment on such arrangements.”
US-based Premiere Entertainment Group handles international sales for the film and announced a raft of deals at the EFM last month, including with VII Pillars for Hong Kong. A sequel, written and directed by Frake-Waterfield, is already in the works.
Screen had reached out to the filmmakers for comment but had not received a response at time of publication.
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