So, is Andrew Garfield playing Robin Hood or not?
Garfield was announced a year ago to star in the then-untitled Paul Greengrass film “The Uprising,” a historical war film about England’s 1381 Peasants’ Revolt. Until recently, Garfield’s character has simply been credited as “Ploughman,” who distributor Focus Features described as “a legendary leader of a ferocious rebellion against the tyranny of King Richard II.”
Then, social accounts for “The Uprising” released a clip of the film on Monday with a previously undisclosed tagline attached: “Witness the Rise of Robin Hood.”
Chaos sprung from there. Following Hugh Jackman’s A24 flop “The Death of Robin Hood” in June, was this really the second take on the medieval rebel hitting theaters this summer?
Focus’ website simply lists the film as “The Uprising” with the tagline “Rise or die,” while noting in copy that the film is “set against the true events of the Uprising that helped inspire the legend of Robin Hood.”
Then Dolby released a new poster on Wednesday with the “Witness the Rise of Robin Hood” line still intact.
Meanwhile, Entertainment Film Distributors, which is releasing “The Uprising” in the U.K. on Oct. 9, responded to viewers’ confusion and alarm by denying that the film is about Robin Hood at all.
“‘The Uprising’ is a historical epic about the Peasants’ Revolt of 1381, not Robin Hood,” the distributor told Metro in a statement. “The U.K. marketing campaign does not make any reference to Robin Hood.”
It’s unclear what contributed to this mixed messaging and last-minute Robin Hood reveal, considering the movie debuts in the U.S. in just two weeks. Some social media users thought the film would be a historical epic focused on Peasants’ Revolt leader Wat Tyler. Now, it’s uncertain if the film is about the historical Tyler, the fictional Robin Hood or a mix of both. It’s possible that the change in marketing was a last-minute push to boost the box office of “The Uprising” by connecting it to a better-known character.
If “The Uprising” is a Robin Hood movie, that would make it the second one this year. “The Death of Robin Hood” was a gritty, “Logan”-style take on the legendary outlaw starring Jackman and written/directed by Michael Sarnoski. That film grossed just under $9 million, according to Box Office Mojo, failing to break even with its reported $20 million budget.
Focus Features and Entertainment Film Distributors did not immediately respond to TheWrap’s request for comment.
“The Uprising” releases in U.S. theaters on Sept. 10.
