The uprising
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The gist
Andrew Garfield's "The Uprising" hits theaters Sept. 10, dramatizing the 1381 Peasants' Revolt.
Its marketing fight over Robin Hood ties shows how studios sell history as legend.
Background
The film, directed by Paul Greengrass, is set in the aftermath of the Black Death, which killed roughly half of England's population and left grief, poverty and anger behind. When those around the young King Richard II impose a brutal tax on the poor, resentment erupts into rebellion, sending tens of thousands marching toward London. Garfield plays a farmer dubbed "Ploughman" who becomes an unlikely leader of the peasants, alongside historical figures Wat Tyler and John Ball. The film's rollout has been complicated by conflicting messaging over whether it is a Robin Hood story.
How it unfolded
- Aug 20, 2026Focus Features tweets "Witness the rise of Robin Hood in The Uprising," promoting a new tagline: The Uprising: The Rise of Robin Hood.
- Sep 2, 2026The film celebrates its Los Angeles premiere.
- Sep 3, 2026Garfield tells The Christian Post the film deconstructs a "bastardized form of Christianity."
- Sep 8, 2026At a Q&A with Greengrass, Garfield says billionaires should be "scared shitless" by the film.
- Sep 9, 2026Reviews publish; Slate reports U.K. distributors denied any Robin Hood ties, saying marketing referencing Robin Hood was not issued or approved by them.
- Sep 10, 2026The Uprising opens in theaters.
Who’s saying what
- Distributor
- U.K. distributors told Metro the film is a historical epic about the Peasants' Revolt of 1381, not Robin Hood, and that Robin Hood marketing materials were not issued or approved by them.
- Studio
- Focus Features promoted the film with the tagline "The Uprising: The Rise of Robin Hood" and a synopsis citing the true events that helped inspire the legend.
- Lead actor
- Garfield said the film should serve as a warning to the world's richest and that billionaires should be "scared shitless" by it.
- Critics
- Variety called it a well-acted blur of fits and starts that doesn't quite come together; other reviews framed it as a gritty historical actioner.
Still unverified
Whether the film is truly a Robin Hood story is disputed: the studio's marketing used a Robin Hood tagline, while U.K. distributors denied any ties and said such materials were not approved by them.