IMDb’s Most Anticipated 2023 Movies List Has An Absolutely Unexpected #2

IMDb has just released its official list of the most anticipated movies of 2023, and, shockingly, Winnie the Pooh: Blood and Honey comes in at the #2 spot. Directed by Rhys Frake-Waterfield, the horror movie is expected to tell the story of Pooh and Piglet as they go on a rampage after being abandoned by Christopher Robin. A first trailer for the movie has already teased that Winnie the Pooh: Blood and Honey will very much be a movie for adult audiences, with plenty of violence, gore, and scares. The upcoming film is scheduled to be released in mid-February, just days before Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania.

In IMDb's newly-released list of the most anticipated movies of 2023, which is calculated using user data from the IMDb website, Winnie the Pooh: Blood and Honey is listed as the second most anticipated movie of the year. Coming in at the #1 spot is Greta Gerwig's Barbie, with Martin Scorsese's Killers of the Flower Moon at #3 and Christopher Nolan's Oppenheimer at #4. The rest of the top 10, in ascending order, includes The Little Mermaid, The Super Mario Bros. Movie, Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny, John Wick: Chapter 4, The Expendables 4, and Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania.

Does The Killer Pooh Movie Really Out-Hype Scorsese & Nolan?

It's surprising to think that Winnie the Pooh: Blood and Honey is more eagerly anticipated than films from directors like Scorsese and Nolan, but Frake-Waterfield's horror has the benefit of being a truly bizarre creation. Author A.A. Milne's stories are well-known to many children and adults, with Pooh participating in charming, low-stakes adventures with his pals. To turn Winnie the Pooh into a murderer understandably raises questions for audiences, with users likely taking to the internet (and IMDb) to learn more about the film and what exactly Frake-Winterfield has cooked up with Winnie the Pooh: Blood and Honey.

Despite the premise clearly grabbing peoples' attention, Winnie the Pooh: Blood and Honey is unlikely to compete with many other films on the list in terms of box office. Killers of the Flower Moon will probably get a small theatrical release before it releases on Apple TV+ but films like Barbie, Oppenheimer, The Little Mermaid, and The Super Mario Bros. Movie are all likely to vastly outperform Winnie the Pooh: Blood and Honey because they will release in more theaters, have more aggressive marketing campaigns, have recognizable movie stars, and, for the most part, are designed to appeal to broader audiences. That being said, as Barbarian and Smile have shown, there is a large, passionate audience for unique horror movies, and Winnie the Pooh: Blood and Honey could very well become something of a sleeper hit depending on word-of-mouth.

In any case, 2023 is shaping up to be a great year for movies, with acclaimed filmmakers like Scorsese and Nolan finally releasing new films after several years away. Gerwig, as well, could ascend to a new level as a director with Barbie, a film that audiences are clearly interested in experiencing. It remains to be seen how Winnie the Pooh: Blood and Honey will fare with audiences and critics, but people are evidently interested in finding out just how twisted and violent the formerly family-friendly bear can get when abandoned by his best friend.

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Source: IMDb