‘The Uprising’ Drops ‘Robin Hood’ Title After Chaotic 24 Hours

Here’s an update on Focus’ chaotic marketing campaign currently happening for Paul Greengrass’ “The Uprising,” starring Andrew Garfield.

Just to refresh your memory: yesterday, the social media account for Greengrass’ latest posted a new poster, a handful of stills, and short clips — along with a new title: “The Uprising: The Rise of Robin Hood.” Yes, Focus decided to market a Wat Tyler story, tackling the 1381 Peasants’ Revolt, as a Robin Hood movie.

Twenty-Four hours later, Focus is back to just calling the film “The Uprising” in the new trailer, while the UK distributor is outright denying that it’s a Robin Hood movie. Here’s their statement:

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.

Yet … the US press notes sent out this morning, which refer to the film simply as “The Uprising,” mention “Robin Hood” in the synopsis:

What is going on here? On one hand, you have the US marketing fully embracing the Robin Hood angle, while on the other, the UK reps are flat-out denying it — leaving the film with two very different marketing strategies just weeks before release.

How bad must tracking be for them to switch up the marketing this drastically just two weeks before release? Hey, maybe it’s working. “Robin Hood” was trending on X this morning — probably not the way Focus wanted to get their film noticed, but, hey, at least there’s more awareness around it now.