The Uprising (2026 film)

Andrew Garfield stars as the leader of a rebellion against the tyranny of Richard II of England. As war burns across England, he forms an army of the people to face the King’s might in a fight for justice and survival.^{[citation needed]}

• Andrew Garfield as a ploughman
• Jamie Bell as John Ball
• Stephen Dillane
• Tom Hollander as Sir Robert Hales
• Cosmo Jarvis as Wat Tyler
• Thomasin McKenzie
• Jonny Lee Miller
• Woody Norman as Richard II of England
• Katherine Waterston as Joan of Kent
• Stanley Townsend
• Sky Yang
• Jamie Maclachlan
• Dónal Finn^[2]

In May 2022, Deadline Hollywood reported that Paul Greengrass would be writing and directing The Hood, with Benedict Cumberbatch cast to star in the film, and with FilmNation Entertainment producing it alongside Tyler Thompson, who would also serve as producer under the Cross Creek Pictures banner.^[3]

No further announcements were made on the project until February 2025, when it was announced that the film was retitled The Rage and Matthew McConaughey was set to star in the film instead of Cumberbatch. Jason Blum joined the project as a producer via his Blumhouse-Atomic Monster banner who turn to replace Tyler Thompson and Cross Creek Pictures who had dropped the upcoming film.^{[clarification needed][4]} By May, McConaughey had departed the film, and Andrew Garfield was in negotiations to take on the lead role and Focus Features was nearing a deal estimated at around $11 million for domestic distribution rights.^[5] In June 2025, Thomasin McKenzie was rumoured to have joined the cast.^[6] On September 4, it was officially announced that Katherine Waterston and Andrew Garfield had been cast.^[7] On October 13, the film was retitled The Uprising, and it was officially announced that Jamie Bell, Thomasin Mckenzie, Cosmo Jarvis, Jonny Lee Miller and Woody Norman had been cast. On October 20, it was officially announced that Stephen Dillane, Tom Hollander, Stanley Townsend and Sky Yang had been cast.^[8][9]

The film was initially marketed in both the U.S. and U.K. under the title The Uprising as a realistic historical drama based on the 1381 Peasants' Revolt, and the early promotional materials for the film gave no indication that it was about Robin Hood.^[13][14][15] Then, on August 20 (only three weeks before the film's scheduled U.S. release date), the film's U.S. distributor Focus Features released a new trailer that unexpectedly changed the title of the film to The Uprising: The Rise of Robin Hood and featured clips of Garfield's character dressed in green, wearing a mask, and wielding a bow, implying that he was Robin Hood.^[13][14][15] Alongside this trailer, Focus Features released a new synopsis: "Set against the true events of the Uprising that helped inspire the legend of Robin Hood, [Andrew Garfield's character] forms an army of the people to face the King's might in a fight for justice."^[13][14][15]

By contrast, the film's U.K. distributor, Entertainment Film Distributors, issued a conflicting statement: "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."^[14][15]

The conflicting marketing campaigns led to widespread confusion about the title and subject matter of the film.^[14][15][16] The Guardian labelled the situation a "marketing meltdown,"^[14] while The Independent described the rebranding as "bizarre."^[15] Social media users and news outlets alike criticised the attempt to incorporate Robin Hood into the story.^[14][15][16] Some said that it would be anachronistic for Robin Hood to appear in a film set in 1381, since Robin Hood is already mentioned in the Piers Ploughman (which was most likely composed in the 1370s, before the Peasants' Revolt), and previous Robin Hood adaptations had generally set the story in the late twelfth century during the reign of Richard the Lionheart (nearly two centuries earlier).^[14][15][16] Others said that the Robin Hood connection was unlikely to help the film succeed, given that there had already been many previous Robin Hood adaptations, including The Death of Robin Hood, which had underperformed at the box office in June 2026.^[14] By contrast, many viewed the story of the Peasants' Revolt (which had never before received a film adaptation) as exciting and contemporarily relevant on its own.^[14][16]

The Uprising is scheduled to be released in the United States on September 10, 2026, pushed up by a day from its original date of September 11.^[17][18] Originally scheduled for a theatrical release in the United Kingdom on September 11 as well, Entertainment Film Distributors subsequently postponed its release to October 9 instead.^[19]