Scott Chambers is in the director’s chair forPeter Pan’s Neverland Nightmare. The latest installment in the Twisted Childhood Universe, a film franchise that also includes horror-ified takes onclassic children’s characters like Winnie-the-Pooh, follows versions of Peter Pan (Martin Portlock) and Tinker Bell (Kit Green) who abduct children in order to bring them to Neverland.
Peter Pan’s Neverland Nightmarerepresents Chambers’s first time helming one of these projects. The Essex native previously produced bothWinnie-the-Pooh: Blood and Honeyand its sequel,Winnie-the-Pooh: Blood and Honey 2. He starred in both projects as well, portraying Christopher Robin. Chambers is slated to produce future TCU storiesincludingBambi: The ReckoningandPinnochio: Unstrung.
In celebration ofPeter Pan’s Neverland Nightmarehitting theaters this week,ScreenRantspoke with Chambers to discuss how the established Twisted Childhood Universe impacted this film’s story, which Easter eggs fans will have to look out for, Wendy Darling’s larger role in the franchise, and production plans for theupcomingPoohniverse: Monsters Assembledcrossover film.
How Much Did Prior TCU Films Change Neverland Nightmare?
“Every entry to this universe is going to feel different to the last…”
ScreenRant:Peter Pan’s Neverland Nightmarewas announced before the Winnie the Pooh horror movies were even in the works. So with having released two of those films before this movie came out, how much didPeter Pan’s Neverland Nightmarestory change and evolve?
Scott Chambers: So this one, we had a batch that we were going to do. It was always in that batch, and I always knew that I wanted this one. Look, every entry to this universe is going to feel different to the last. I compare it to The Conjuring universe in a different way. In The Conjuring, you kind of know what you’re signing up to. Every time you watch one of those films, they’ve got the same tone, the same vibe, all that sort of thing. Whereas in ours, it’s not like that. If you don’t like one of them, you may actually like the next one. So for example, if you don’t like the campiness of the Winnie, the Pooh films, you may like Pan because it’s actually a lot more grounded, a lot more serious and disturbing.
Then if you don’t like that, then you might like Pinocchio because he’s wearing skin, running around killing people with his nose. I think there’s a lot of fun to be had. Looking forward, there are a lot of little winks to each of the other films, like the worlds are colliding a lot. For example, in Peter Pan, the mother in it is actually Christopher Robin’s therapist in Winnie the Pooh, and she’s wearing the exact same outfit she was wearing in that because the films are happening at the same time, because it’s all leading to the Poohniverse: Monsters Assemble, obviously. Wendy, she works at her hairdresser and one of her friends at the hairdresser says, ‘Tonight we’re going to go glamping. Do you want to come?; Thankfully, Wendy says no, because that girl then goes and gets slaughtered by Pooh. So yeah, it’s all fun.
There’s a lot of Easter eggs in these film to set up the grander TCU. I’ve only watched Peter Pan’s Neverland Nightmare once. If I go back and watch it a second time with an eagle eye, am I going to catch a lot more Easter eggs for the grander universe?
Scott Chambers: A hundred percent, yeah. They’ve all got this. We literally five days ago finished filming Pinocchio, and that has cameos from people within these films. That film is set, I think four months in the future from Peter Pan and Winnie, which I’ve done at the same time. But you do see people, and it’s all building to the Poohniverse because these introductory films, I need you to feel a certain way about these characters because when we get to Poohniverse, I don’t have much time to kind of get to the action, and I need you to feel a certain way because I need there to be the bads and the bigger bads, and I need you to feel certain ways about them.
Wendy Darling Will Have Big TCU Role Going Forward
“How can I test her limits in Poohniverse?”
Wendy Darling is being positioned to eventually be a hero in this world, but still, that being said, it’s under the TCU banner. So how will this iteration of Wendy differ from the Wendy that we’ve seen before?
Scott Chambers: This one is not perfect. So Wendy, I feel like everyone knows she is from a wealthy background, all that kind of stuff. She’s got class to her all that, and mine does. But I feel like mine’s a lot more like, you’ve met this Wendy before. She’s not perfect. I’m not interested in writing for, oh, the perfect girl who has to go through jeopardy, run around, screaming, covered in blood. I want people that are real to life, that have genuine issues going on in their life, don’t have the perfect relationships with their parents. She smokes. She does all these things. She’s a lot more realistic. I feel like going forward with the trauma that she’s going to face in Peter Pan and what’s left of her, she’s going to go up against it in Poohniverse. I feel like this film has kind of put her at a place where you kind know what she’s capable of doing. How can I test her limits in Poohniverse? No one is safe in Poohniverse, so don’t get too attached to Wendy because she might get destroyed.
Poohniverse: Monsters Assembled Will Film This Summer
“I am going to take time with it, but I never work slow anyways…”
We keep talking aboutPoohniverse: Monsters Assembled. This is going to be the grand crossover that we’re all building towards. I believe it was originally slated for a 2025 release date. Are you still on track to make that release date?
Scott Chambers: I very much plan on shooting this summer, and it just depends. If we’re able to turn it around and release it for the Halloween period of 2025, I will definitely do that. I don’t want to rush it because I’m aware that the fans of this stuff that we are doing, their expectations are quite high. So I don’t want to just smash it out and that everyone’s disappointed. I am going to take time with it, but I never work slow anyway. I’m not used to doing that. So you’ll get it quick.
You mentioned Halloween. If it’s not Halloween 2025, you would wait until Halloween 2026?
Scott Chambers: No, no, no, no. It’s just basically, I feel like at the moment where we stand, the time period for this coming out would be like Halloween 2025. But if we miss that, it’ll probably be the first quarter of 2026, so it won’t be far off it.
Are there ambitions beyond the bigMonsters Assembledmovie to continue this universe far beyond?
Scott Chambers: A hundred percent. There’s Phase 2, which we have. We’ve already announced some of them. So Winnie the Pooh: Blood and Honey 3, Tigger’s Return, which is going to be a Tigger standalone film because everyone responded quite well to Tigger, so he’s going to get a standalone. Then the next one I think I’m going to direct is Alice the Mad. And at the minute, I’m enjoying exploring the idea that basically it’s set at an escorting agency, which is called the White Rabbit. And Alice is an escort, which is a sex worker, and the Mad Hatter becomes obsessed with her. And for me, the references are a film called Opera, A little bit of Maniac with Elijah Wood and a bit of MaXXXine in there maybe as well. I’m excited for that.
AboutPeter Pan’s Neverland Nightmare
The newest entry into the Poohniverse follows Wendy Darling as she strikes out in an attempt to rescue her brother Michael from the clutches of the evil Peter Pan, who intends to send him to Neverland. Along the way, she meets a twisted Tinkerbell, who is hooked on what she thinks is fairy dust.
Check back soon for our otherPeter Pan’s Neverland Nightmareinterviews with…
Peter Pan’s Neverland Nightmarearrives in theaters for three days only starting August 03, 2025 until June 24, 2025 only from Iconic Events Releasing. Buy your tickets now atIconic Events.
Peter Pan’s Neverland Nightmare
Cast
Peter Pan’s Neverland Nightmare is a fantasy-horror film from the team at Jagged Edge Productions, the same group behind other horror parody films such as Winnie the Pooh: Blood and Honey. The film is a terrifying retelling of the original tale penned by J.M. Barrie in 1911.
