Just days after US marketing revealed Andrew Garfield’s upcoming historical drama The Uprising as a Robin Hood movie, its UK distributor has denied any connection.
Earlier this week, Focus Features started to share promotional material for The Uprising with the byline 'Witness the Rise of Robin Hood, ' seemingly out of the blue. This took everyone by surprise as the movie has not revealed any connection with the outlaw thus far. In fact, the film is actually set during the Peasants’ Revolt of 1381. However, in search of clarification, Metro reached out to the film's UK distributor, Entertainment Film Distributors, who denied that the film was a Robin Hood movie.
Entertainment Film Distributors' statement reads, "The Uprising is a historical epic about the Peasants’ Revolt of 1381, not Robin Hood. The UK marketing campaign does not make any reference to Robin Hood. Marketing materials posted by other countries that may appear in the UK online and on social media referencing Robin Hood are not issued or approved by us."
This is quite strange. It is not clear whether Focus Features jumped to conclusions due to Garfield playing a Robin Hood-like philanthropist who wears a green cloak and carries a bow, or that this was a last-ditch effort to raise interest in the film ahead of its September 11 US release date. In a now-deleted Twitter post, the company captioned one teaser, "To the rich, he was an outlaw. To the people, he was a hero. Witness the birth of a legend," which heavily plays into the legend of Robin Hood.
Despite marketing the movie on social media as the rise of Robin Hood, Focus Features' site actually describes the movie as following "the true events of the Uprising that helped inspire the legend of Robin Hood." According to folklore, Robin Hood was thought to be in action around the late 12th century, during King Richard I's rule. But the Peasants’ Revolt took place almost 200 years later, when King Richard II sat on the throne.
However, when we look at the film's inspirations, we can see where the confusion is coming from. The movie is written and directed by Paul Greengrass, who told Empire Magazine that he had studied William Langland's 1377 poem Piers Plowman at university. The poem is about a common farmer who lays out his "hopes, dreams and fears." In the movie, Garfield does play an unnamed farmer who goes by Ploughman. However, the poem also includes the first known mention of Robin Hood.
The Uprising hits theaters in the US on September 11, and arrives later in UK cinemas on October 9. For more new movies, check out our list of 2026 movie release dates.
