Public Domain is Killing it in Media
(Image credit: Nightmare Forge Games)
Imagine getting chased around by demented versions of favorite classic characters that have hit the public domain, just like in the upcoming Infestation: Origins. However, Winnie the Pooh Blood and Honey’s success may have indie film producers racing indie game developers, but there is room for both. Will any AAA developers tempt fate and what other horrors might we expect in the next few years?
Blood and Honey is not the only Winnie the Pooh-based adaptation; it will not be the last. IMDB lists the Blood and Honey movie as costing $100,000 while earning almost $5 million worldwide, not bad for such a small investment. That profit margin may attract smaller developers and producers. Still, it does not indicate that any AAA developer would touch these characters since those productions could cost over the $5 million earned. Developers tied to major publishers want exclusive rights to their intellectual property, especially characters. Also, AAA developers may wish to partner with a company losing rights, so using old public domain assets is not a good look.
Hoping to score just as big, Winnie is getting at least two indie horror games expected this year, and both are from Christopher Robin’s nightmares. Hundred Acre Wood is a first-person shooter where saving Christopher means running from an old, demented friend or not. Next is Winnie’s Hole developed by Twice Different, which has the player taking over the honey-loving bear as a virus that will turn him into a blob of despair. The blob slowly grows as the monstrosity eats all other creatures in the woods.
The original Pooh gang at the hundred-acre woods hit the public domain in 2022. Two years later, Tigger and the Steamboat Willie versions of Mickey Mouse and Minnie Mouse join Piglet as fair game for specific usages. When Indie developer Nightmare Forge Games releases Infestation: Origins, it will be the first new usage of the Disney classic mouse, beating any movie to the chase on this one. The game is another FPS, and the big mouse will hunt down a party of up to four players with a horde of mice. For side characters like Tigger, he may get his own game first or show up in Blood and Honey 2. The sequel is confirmed to come out soon in this Screen Rant article on B&H 2.
Other familiar cartoon main characters fall into the public domain in the next few years, like Popeye in 2025 and Betty Boop in 2026. These two may not fit the horror genre, but crafty indie developers will make it happen. Imagine Betty in her own Bendy and The Ink Machine or a demented version of Ms. Boop chasing around anyone crazy enough to enter her domain. Turning to the spinach-loving sailor, he could star in Popeye the Slayer Man, where the player breaks into Popeye’s house to steal his spinach stash, but he has other plans. The ideas write themselves sometimes.
The public domain should give access to cheaper assets that AAA developers would avoid since they would not have full rights to the characters. Winnie the Pooh got his horror movie and at least two PC video games, giving hope for the next characters hitting the domain. Steamboat Willie Mickey Mouse is getting a twisted horror in Infestation: Origins, coming to PC on Steam. The public domain expands when Tigger shows up this year, followed quickly by other cartoons, including Popeye and Betty Boop. A new rule appears to apply to the Public Domain: if it can be turned into a horror, it will be. The only question is whether it comes in a video game or movie first.
(Image credit: Nightmare Forge Games)
