Paul Greengrᴀss has helmed plenty of impressive dramas and action films, including this year’s The Lost Bus, but his upcoming movie with Andrew Garfield is shaping up to be a special kind of epic. While he’s always had an interest in movies that reflect history, his next movie is set to dive into an entirely new era.
Paul Greengrᴀss is following up The Lost Bus with The Uprising, a medieval epic starring Andrew Garfield in an adaptation of a crucial chapter in English history. The period setting and overt political themes make this one of the most exciting films Greengrᴀss or Garfield have ever made, which could easily become their Braveheart.
The Uprising Is Shaping Up To Be A Genuine Epic
The cast, creatives, and concept behind Andrew Garfield’s upcoming film The Uprising has the potential to be a generational historical epic akin to Braveheart. As reported by ᴅᴇᴀᴅline, The Uprising will be directed by Paul Greengrᴀss and will focus on the English rebellion known as the Peasants’ Revolt against King Richard II in the 14th century.
The film will star Andrew Garfield as Wat Tyler, the leader of the rebellion. The cast also includes Jamie Bell, Cosmo Jarvis, Katherine Waterston, Thomasin McKenzie, Jonny Lee Miller, and Woody Norman. While most of the casting is unknown, it seems likely that Woody Norman (who recently appeared in The Electric State) will be playing the teenage King Richard.
The movie is currently in production, but the subject matter of the story and the pedigree of the creatives attached to it suggest that there’s real potential for the film. Paul Greengrᴀss has helmed plenty of thrilling films based on real-life events Bloody Sunday, United 93, and Captain Phillips, so he makes sense for The Uprising.
The oldest setting he’s explored so far in his career has been the 2020 western News of the World, which takes place centuries after the events that will be depicted in The Uprising. That’s partly what makes this announcement so exciting, as it represents a big swing from the filmmaker.
It’s also a big opportunity for Garfield. He’s got the charisma of a leader and has adjusted well to action films in the past, in part thanks to his time as Spider-Man. The actor has also brought engaging shades to all sorts of characters, promising a more complex take on the traditional historical leader archetype.
Greengrᴀss has always distinguished himself as a filmmaker who is acutely connected to the real world. Even his most bombastic series, the Jason Bourne films, have been far more rooted in real-world espionage and politics than the typical trappings of the spy genre. There’s no reason to think that The Uprising will be any different.
However, the natural scope of the story and the nature of the setting present an opportunity for Greengrᴀss to take his action storytelling to an entirely new level, especially if he’s willing and able to showcase the true horrors of war in those times. It’s also exciting to imagine how Garfield will adjust to the medieval action and political maneuvering.
There’s also the subject matter, an inherently political call to action for the common worker against the ruling class. In the current societal landscape, Garfield starring in a movie about the people rising against an unfair king seems particularly poignant. The story of the Peasants’ Revolt has reverberated for centuries, making it an undeniably bold statement to make now.
It’s the kind of rallying cry for freedom that helped morph Braveheart into a pop culture icon, and could be something very similar to Wat Tyler. Andrew Garfield has solidified himself as one of Hollywood’s most compelling leads, and and he seems poised to take things to the next level with The Uprising.
Andrew Garfield
- Birthdate
-
August 20, 1983
- Birthplace
-
Los Angeles, California, USA
- Notable Projects
-
The Amazing Spider-Man, Hacksaw Ridge, The Amazing Spider-Man 2
- Professions
-
Actor, Producer
