Martin Portlock, the star of Peter Pan’s Neverland Nightmare, will return for the crossover film Poohniverse: Monsters Assemble
We had heard that director Rhys Frake-Waterfield and producer Scott Jeffrey Chambers were planning to create a cinematic universe with the Winnie the Pooh: Blood and Honey films and other horror movies inspired by children’s stories, like Peter Pan’s Neverland Nightmare, Bambi: The Reckoning, and Pinocchio Unstrung. Then, Jagged Edge Productions and ITN Studios officially announced that this cinematic universe, which is being referred to as The Twisted Childhood Universe, is building up to the crossover movie Poohniverse: Monsters Assemble, which will be released in 2025. Now, Deadline has confirmed that Martin Portlock, who plays Peter Pan in Peter Pan’s Neverland Nightmare, will be reprising the role in Poohniverse.
The confirmation of Portlock’s involvement comes in Deadline’s report that Poohniverse: Monsters Assemble has secured distribution deals in in Latin America (BF Distribution), Germany and Italy (Plaion), the UK (Altitude), Benelux (ND Pictures), France (Factoris), Australia and New Zealand (Umbrella), Turkey (BG Films), Russia/CIS (Voxell), Japan (New Select), Taiwan (Movie Cloud), Malaysia (Mega Films), Mongolia (Filmbridge), and Pakistan (Cine Entertainment). ITN will handle distribution in North America. Filming is expected to begin in March.
Frake-Waterfield will be directing the crossover film from a screenplay he wrote with Chambers. It was previously confirmed that the cast will include Chambers as Christopher Robin, Megan Plactio as Wendy Darling, Roxanne Mckee as Xana, and Lewis Santer as Tigger.
Peter Pan’s Neverland Nightmare and Bambi: The Reckoning are set to receive theatrical releases in the first quarter of 2025, with Pinocchio Unstrung likely to follow later in the year, so we’ll be introduced to all of the horrific characters well before Poohniverse: Monsters Assemble makes it to screens.
Frake-Waterfield explains, “It will be complete carnage. We are heavily influenced by Freddy vs. Jason and The Avengers. We would love to see a horror movie where the villains group together and are going after their survivors. We have some incredible set pieces in mind and some sequences I think will truly shock people. The movies we are working on now as stand alones are all building towards Poohniverse: Monsters Assemble.“
Chambers added, “Similar to The Avengers, we will follow Pooh, Tigger, Rabbit, Owl, Piglet, Pinocchio, Sleeping Beauty, Bambi, The Mad Hatter, Peter Pan, and Tinkerbell joining forces to wreak havoc. We are working with a larger scale budget on this one and are excited for what the future will hold. When you see the stand alone movies you will see the easter eggs hinting toward the crossover. Some of the villains also will not see eye to eye, which will allow for some carnage within the group in some epic sequences of monster vs. monster.“
Are you looking forward to Poohniverse: Monsters Assemble and to seeing Martin Portlock’s Peter Pan cross paths with the likes of Winnie the Pooh, Tigger, and Pinocchio? Let us know by leaving a comment below.