With the just lately introduced Poohniverse, one factor has turn into abundantly clear: franchises are getting uncontrolled.
A number of months in the past I talked in regards to the onslaught of Public Domain Horror Films we have been being subjected to. And whereas these movies would have been relegated to straight to DVD in a special period, Fathom Events has come alongside and given a platform to those smaller tasks. So as a substitute of toiling within the cut price bins at Walmart, they’re given temporary theatrical runs. One such movie was the just lately launched Winnie the Pooh: Blood and Honey 2. Shockingly, the movie wasn’t horrible (you may try my constructive evaluation right here) however what I used to be struck by was the temporary introduction by the filmmakers.
Star/Producer Scott Chambers and Writer/Director Rhys Frake-Waterfield discuss to digital camera about their plans for what they describe because the Poohniverse. What precisely is the Poohniverse? Well, it’s an MCU-style world the place characters like Pooh, Bambi, and Peter Pan exist collectively and homicide folks. As confirmed by Blood and Honey 2, there’s some leisure available watching traditional characters homicide teenagers, slasher-style. The bar is fairly low as long as they embrace a surplus of kills. After collaborating in their very own particular person movies, the horror-slanted characters would come collectively Avengers-style for Poohniverse: Monsters Assemble.
The greatest concern I’ve is that the filmmakers aren’t merely ready to see if there’s a need and demand for this, they’re merely displaying their filmmaker roadmap. And positive, I’m positive there’s a little bit of poking enjoyable on the MCU approach of doing reveals, however it doesn’t make theirs any much less ludicrous. There’s no telling how profitable these movies shall be and, given their heavy reliance on gimmick, it wouldn’t shock me if the joke shortly dissipates. Because I think about “classic literary characters killing people” has a shelf life.
Thankfully, in contrast to the MCU which may typically span years forward, the plan for the Poohniverse merely extends to 2025. But even nonetheless, it feels very cocky to even anticipate to have the ability to make such dumb films and anticipate others to have any semblance of connection to it. One of the appeals to this sort of movie is that you could go in with none data of something, and simply get pleasure from your self. Bring a gaggle of mates and simply snort at it. But by making a universe, there’s an expectation positioned on the viewer that they should know previous occasions as a way to perceive the total story. Even if that’s not the case, the MCU and different sequence have conditioned common audiences to a special world.
And whereas it most likely looks like I’m selecting on the Poohniverse, that is merely probably the most related instance. But this may very well be mentioned for a lot of completely different makes an attempt at launching a franchise earlier than there was even a need from audiences for one. In the seek for a profitable sequence, corporations are wanting previous a very powerful aspect: an viewers’s need for extra. And once they know there’s one other one across the nook, what’s to get them to purchase a ticket?
What do you suppose? Does each movie want its personal universe of movies? Can we ever simply have standalone films anymore? Has the MCU ruined every thing? Let us know within the feedback beneath!