Made on a budget of less than $100,000, director Rhys Frake-Waterfield’s movie Winnie the Pooh: Blood and Honey (watch it HERE) earned more than $6 million during its global release in early 2023, so not only did the sequel Winnie the Pooh: Blood and Honey 2 have a substantially higher budget, that success opened the door to an entire cinematic universe that will consist of at least one more Winnie the Pooh: Blood and Honey sequel and other horror movies inspired by children’s stories, like Peter Pan’s Neverland Nightmare, Bambi: The Reckoning, and Pinocchio: Unstrung. Now, Variety reports that a pair of genre icons have just joined the cast of Pinocchio: Unstrung, as the film is set to star A Nightmare on Elm Street‘s Robert Englund and Rob Zombie regular Richard Brake! Details on Englund’s role have not been revealed, but Brake will be playing Geppetto.

As we’ve previously heard, Todd Masters of MastersFx, creator of the version of Chucky seen in the 2019 Child’s Play remake, will be heading up the animatronics and puppetry. The Prosthetics Studio, which has worked on the Star Wars and Harry Potter franchises, will be providing the practical gore. The first image of the film’s Pinocchio doll can be seen at the bottom of this article.

Frake-Waterfield is directing Pinocchio: Unstrung, which is currently in production. The story follows young James as he learns of his grandfather Geppetto’s deadly secret: Pinocchio. Cameron Bell, Jessica Balmer, Jack Art Gray, and Peter De Souza-Feighoney are also in the cast.

Brake had this to say about the project: “Not only is the script dark, twisted and gory, it’s also at times very funny. Todd Masters and his team have created incredible practical effects. Audiences are in for a crazy ride.” Masters added, “I’ve forever loved the original and demented story from the 1880s. So I was excited to join this production, to bring this little puppet to life — with all practical FX. This version is still a little puppet’s pursuit to becoming a boy… but the way he becomes one, is extremely gnarly… and frankly, very fun.“

Frake-Waterfield said, “Our movie flips everything you know about Pinocchio on its head. We have an incredibly talented cast and crew working on this. We are heavily relying on practical effects for all of the deaths and creature work. I can’t wait for the world to meet Pinocchio.“

Pinocchio: Unstrung is aiming for a summer 2025 release. What do you think of Robert Englund and Richard Brake joining the cast? Let us know by leaving a comment below.

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