Bambi The Reckoning Sets Peacock Streaming Date in March 2026

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I’m so excited about what Rhys Frake-Waterfield is doing! He started this amazing, spooky take on classic Disney characters back in 2023 with Winnie the Pooh, and now, after a lot of anticipation, we finally have a release date for the next one in the series!

Starting March 27th on the streaming service, a new horror film offers a dark reimagining of the classic 1923 story, Bambi, a Life in the Woods.

What Is Bambi: The Reckoning About?

The film Winnie-the-Pooh: Blood and Honey started a series of horror movies called The Twisted Childhood Universe. A sequel followed in 2024, and in early 2025, another classic character got a scary makeover in Peter Pan’s Neverland Nightmare. Bambi: The Reckoning was the fourth film in this series.

I recently heard about this incredibly disturbing story. Apparently, a mother and son were in a car accident, and afterward, something truly horrifying happened. A deer, changed by something – maybe the accident itself – started a violent rampage. It seemed driven by grief and a desperate need for revenge, all because its own mother had died. It’s just…unbelievable and terrifying.

The horror film Bambi: The Reckoning features Roxanne McKee, known for her role as Doreah in Game of Thrones. In this reimagining of the classic story, McKee plays Xana, a figure who targets Bambi after the tragic loss of his mother to a poacher and his mate, Faline, in a toxic waste accident.

The show features performances by Tom Mulheron, Nicola Wright, Samira Mighty, Alex Cooke, Russell Geoffrey Banks, and Joseph Greenwood. Dan Allen directed the production, which was written by Rhys Warrington.

This independent horror film was first announced in November 2022 and released on July 25, 2025. Critics gave it a mixed reception, with an approval rating of 63% – enough to be considered ‘fresh.’ However, general audiences weren’t as impressed, scoring it only 56%.

Reviews for the film were mixed among longtime fans of the series. While some viewers found it dull and labeled it the worst film of the year, others enjoyed the acting and said it was an entertaining experience.

The movie earned just over $500,000 at the box office, with a budget of around $315,000. Despite being released months ago, it wasn’t available on any streaming services until now. Peacock has now added it to their lineup as a Peacock Original.

The movie offers a surprisingly violent interpretation of a beloved character, echoing the view of some that the original Disney story already contained horror elements – a sentiment shared by Stephen King. The author explained in 2014 that his fascination with horror began in his youth, specifically mentioning…

He shared with Rolling Stone that the first film he ever watched was surprisingly a horror movie – Bambi. He described being both terrified and strangely thrilled by the scene where the young deer gets trapped in a forest fire, admitting he couldn’t quite understand why he felt that way.

Bambi Will Return in Upcoming Crossover Movie

Following the intense events of the 2025 film, the story of Bambi will continue. Creator Frake-Waterfield plans to expand the universe by combining several characters from public domain works in a horror-comedy crossover movie. Originally planned for a 2025 release, production on the film is now scheduled to begin in March.

Before the big crossover event, a new horror movie based on a classic story is coming out: Pinocchio: Unstrung. This film, scheduled for 2026, reimagines the tale of Pinocchio from The Adventures of Pinocchio as a scary story.

Beyond the popular mockumentary Bambi: The Reckoning, the main character originated from a film by Taylor Morden. The story centers around five community college students and their professor who embark on a journey to find proof of a unique, fanged deer species in the Cascade foothills – a creature never before documented.

Bambi: The Reckoning will premiere on Peacock on Mar. 27.

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2026-02-23 23:06