The Reckoning Trailer Reveals Beloved Disney Animal As “Vicious Killing Machine”

The first trailer for Bambi: The Reckoning has arrived. The new movie is a horror take on the classic 1923 Felix Salten novel Bambi, a Life in the Woods, which was the inspiration for the iconic 1942 Disney movie Bambi. The movie is part of the Twisted Childhood Universe, an interconnected franchise, which kicked off with 2023’s Winnie-the-Pooh: Blood and Honey and its 2024 sequel. It’s comprised of horror versions of various public domain childhood characters, also including Peter Pan and Pinocchio, which will unite in the upcoming Poohniverse: Monsters Assemble.

Umbrella Entertainment has now unveiled the first teaser trailer for the upcoming Bambi: The Reckoning. Check it out below:

The eerie teaser is composed of just two scenes. The first follows two hunters, one of whom asks “You ever shot a deer?” before revealing that he has, just one time, implying that he may have been the hunter who famously shot Bambi’s mother. The following scene shows the bloodthirsty, fully-grown Bambi toppling a car, perhaps the one driven by the hunters, with his antlers.

Will Bambi: The Reckoning Be A Success?

The Twisted Childhood Universe Still Needs To Prove Itself

As the first spinoff in the franchise, it remains to be seen if Bambi: The Reckoning can capture the same audience attention as the previous Twisted Childhood movies. The universe is already struggling somewhat to get off the ground. Despite the first movie becoming a hit by making $5.2 million off its roughly $50,000 budget, its sequel had ten times the budget but made almost exactly ten times less in theaters, despite the Blood and Honey 2 reviews being considerably stronger. Below, see how the two Winnie-the-Pooh movies compare both critically and commercially:

Because of the movies’ low budgets, the franchise can still be considered a commercial success, which justifies the continued production of the many announced spinoffs and sequels, including the upcoming Winnie-the-Pooh: Blood and Honey 3. However, the performance of Bambi: The Reckoning could make or break the universe’s future. If audience interest in the core Pooh subfranchise is already dwindling, it’s unclear how an entirely different childhood-based horror villain will fare.

Ultimately, it seems likely that Bambi: The Reckoning will underperform. There is already a precedent for horror movies attempting to capitalize on other iconic childhood characters sputtering at the box office. This was the case with the 2022 Grinch horror movie The Mean One, which came to theaters after news of Blood and Honey first went viral and only made $612,260. If none of the future Twisted Childhood movies can exceed that total, it seems likely that the other movies will either see their budgets shrink or be cancelled altogether.

Source: Umbrella Entertainment

Bambi: The Reckoning

Bambi: The Reckoning is a modern fantasy horror film from director Dan Allen and the team behind Winnie the Pooh: Blood and Honey. Xana and her Son Benji are involved in a car accident that puts them in the crosshairs of Bambi, a furious deer with insatiable bloodlust.

Director

Dan Allen

Studio(s)

Jagged Edge Productions , ITN Studios

Distributor(s)

ITN Distribution

Writers

Rhys Warrington

Cast

Roxanne McKee , Nicola Wright , Tom Mulheron , Samira Mighty , Russell Geoffrey Banks , Catherine Adams

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