Paul Greengrass has a movie coming out in a little over two weeks, an action drama starring Andrew Garfield about the 1381 English Peasants’ Revolt, but it appears to have been given a new title. The film has been known as The Uprising, but the official social media has posted a new trailer which expands the title to The Uprising: The Rise of Robin Hood.
The Uprising: The Rise of Robin Hood
Focus Features has even added a new synopsis for the film, which reinforces the Robin Hood connection: “Andrew Garfield stars as the leader of a ferocious rebellion against the tyranny of King Richard II. Set against the true events of the Uprising that helped inspire the legend of Robin Hood, he forms an army of the people to face the King’s might in a fight for justice.“
Although this seems like a last-minute switch, the signs were there from the beginning. Garfield plays a character known simply as Ploughman, and one of the first literary references to Robin Hood can be traced back to Piers Plowman, a 14th-century poem by William Langland.
Additionally, when the film was first announced in 2022, it was titled The Hood.
In addition to Garfield, The Uprising: The Rise of Robin Hood also stars Jamie Bell, Tom Hollander, Cosmo Jarvis, Thomasin McKenzie, Stephen Dillane, Jonny Lee Miller, Katherine Waterson, and Woody Norman. Greengrass directs from a script he wrote.
The Death of Robin Hood
Perhaps the studio wanted to put a little distance between The Uprising and The Death of Robin Hood, which was released just two months ago. That film did actually feature Robin Hood, albeit an older version of the character played by Hugh Jackman, who is tormented by his past killings as an outlaw.
In his review, our own Chris Bumbray said director Michael Sarnoski made a deliberately paced and mournful film. “The action in the first act is surprisingly epic,” he wrote, “and Sarnoski handles it so well that if he ever tackled a straightforward historical action film, he’d likely nail it in much the same way Robert Eggers did with The Northman. Still, this is a much quieter, more intimate movie. While it may get overshadowed amid a sea of summer blockbusters, The Death of Robin Hood is well worth seeking out.“
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