Hong Kong cancels ‘Winnie the Pooh: Blood and Honey’ film release. This is what happened

The distributor of the upcoming British slasher film, "Winnie the Pooh: Blood and Honey," has announced on Tuesday that the movie's screening in Hong Kong this week has been canceled, without providing any explanation for the decision.

VII Pillars Entertainment expressed "great regret" about the cancellation of the release scheduled for March 23 on its Facebook page, but no further information was given.

Previous incidents involving Chinese censors targeting the main character of the film, which was originally created by the English author AA Milne, were due to memes comparing the bumbling bear to President Xi Jinping. These memes emerged in 2013 when Xi Jinping visited the US and was compared to Pooh, and Tigger by some online commentators, as per media reports.



A spokesperson from Hong Kong's Office for Film, Newspaper and Article Administration has informed Reuters that a certificate of approval has been granted to the applicant for the screening of the film in question.

The spokesperson added that the screening arrangements of individual films with certificates of approval are the commercial decisions of the cinemas, and as such, the OFNAA would refrain from commenting on such arrangements.

VII Pillars Entertainment's Facebook page had a ticket-booking link that showed a message stating that ticketing was temporarily unavailable. Earlier in the day, Moviematic, which had arranged a screening of the film for Tuesday evening, had announced the cancellation on its social media handle, citing technical reasons.

FAQs

1. What is Winnie The Pooh: Blood and Honey’s IMDB rating?
   3.7/10
2. Who directed "Winnie The Pooh: Blood and Honey"?
   Rhys Waterfield