The Big Picture
-
Bambi: The Reckoning
introduces a new dark twist to the beloved character, showcasing a vicious and blood-filled reimagining. - The film follows a mother-son duo hunted by a transformed Bambi, portrayed as a brutal killing machine in the woods.
- Part of the
Poohniverse: Monsters Assemble
, this film sets the stage for future crossovers with other reimagined legacy characters.
Gone are the days when Bambi was a cute, harmless, docile deer. Get ready for a rabid Bambi as the makers of Winnie the Pooh Blood and Honey expand their universe of reimagined legacy characters with Bambi: The Reckoning. The feature announced back in 2022 has now unveiled the first trailer, giving us a peak into this blood-filled reimagination. While the film is produced by Blood and Honey helmer Rhys Frake-Waterfield, it’s directed by Dan Allen.
The brief teaser features a group of men engaged in target practice in the jungle. The eerie atmosphere is further heightened by a missed shot and a question, “Have you killed a deer before?” We then see a small glimpse of Bambi charging towards a car in the woods and turning it over, establishing that this Bambi is a beast.
What’s ‘Bambi: The Reckoning’ About?
While the plot details are kept tightly under wraps, the brief synopsis reveals that the story revolves around a mother-son duo, who are hunted by Bambi in the woods – that’s probably the shot we see in the brief clip. The official synopsis reads, “We follow Xana (Roxanne McKee) and her son Benji (Tom Mulheron) who find themselves in a car wreck and soon hunted down by the vicious killing machine, Bambi.”
Bambi: The Reckoning is billed as an “incredibly dark retelling of the story we all know and love.” The feature finds its design inspiration in Netflix’s The Ritual, “Bambi will be a vicious killing machine that lurks in the wilderness. Prepare for Bambi on rabies!” the makers previously revealed. It’ll be interesting to see how fans of the sub-genre will respond to this tale, going by the success of the first Blood and Honey and its sequel earning $533,144 in a short theatrical release, fans might turn up for this one.
The movie also cast Nicola Wright, Samira Mighty, Russell Geoffrey Banks, Alex Cooke, Ewan Borthwick, Catherine Adams, Adrian Relph and more. Allen directs from a script by Rhys Warrington. The Reckoning is part of Poohniverse: Monsters Assemble, which started with Winnie the Pooh:Blood and Honey, better known as Twisted Childhood Universe. Now the makers are putting together a team of these slasher creatures which will eventually crossover in future films, also part of this universe are Peter Pan’s Neverland Nightmare and Pinocchio Unstrung.
No release date has been announced for the film yet. Stay tuned to Collider for further details and check out the new teaser below: