An R-rated live-action/animation hybrid series about Winnie-the-Pooh character Christopher Robin is in development from Boat Rocker Studios and Shamier Anderson and Stephan James’ Bay Mills Studios, Variety has learned exclusively.
The official logline for the project, currently titled “Christopher Robin,” states, “Christopher Robin is a disillusioned New Yorker navigating his quarter-life crisis with the help of the weird talking animals who live beyond a drug-induced portal outside his derelict apartment complex, the Hundred Acres.”
Charlie Kesslering (“Foreign Relations,” “Most Likely To”) wrote the script for the project and will also executive produce. Conrad Vernon (“Shrek 2,” “Sausage Party”) will direct the pilot and executive produce. Nick Nantell executive produces for Boat Rocker along with Anderson and James for Bay Mills. Holly Hubsher is overseeing the project for Bay Mills. Bay Mills is currently under a first-look deal at Boat Rocker.
“There are few characters more iconic and known the world over for their adventures together than Christopher Robin and Winnie-the-Pooh,” said Nantell, executive vice president of creative affairs for Boat Rocker Studios, Scripted. “We’re grateful to be working with the Bay Mills team, Charlie Kesslering, and Conrad Vernon on a project that takes these characters to new, unexpected, and really funny places.”
“This project takes everything you think you know about Christopher Robin and Winnie-the-Pooh and creates something completely fresh and undeniably funny,” added Anderson and James. “We’re excited to partner with Boat Rocker, Charlie, and Conrad on this journey to a truly creative space where anything is possible for these characters.”
This is the latest Winnie-the-Pooh project to be announced since the copyright protection on British author A.A. Milne’s most famous creations ran out in 2022, with the characters entering the public domain. Among the more notable takes on Pooh since then is the horror film ““Winnie-the-Pooh: Blood and Honey.”
Boat Rocker’s current slate also includes “Orphan Black: Echoes” at AMC, “Slip” for Roku, and “American Rust” at Amazon Freevee.
This story first appeared on Variety.com.