For nearly two decades now, Jason Blum has been behind some of the biggest horror movies of the 21st century, like Get Out, Split and the Paranormal Activity series. However, what is it like to have Blumhouse Productions behind your non-horror movie? The Uprising’s writer/director told us.
The Uprising is a period drama that tells the story of England’s 1381 Peasants’ Revolt and has connections to Robin Hood. It’s not your typical Blumhouse movie, and yet the production company was very much behind the film. So, I had to ask if the project ever was more of a horror movie. Per Paul Greengrass:
Jason and I made Lost Bus together. No, we didn't have a conversation about horror. He's a great producer because he just encouraged us to make the film we wanted to make. And, what we wanted to make was a big historical epic with a lot of heart and soul and, movie a bit like Gladiator or Braveheart. Those are the kinds of movies. I love those movies.
Paul Greengrass and Jason Blum collaborated on another movie last year called The Lost Bus, which was a thriller based on real events. As The Uprising filmmaker shared, horror was never part of the conversation between them. And if you look deeply into Blumhouse’s list of films over the years, there have been random instances of it making other non-horror films.
Did you know Blumhouse was behind the family film Tooth Fairy starring Dwayne Johnson? Another good example is 2014’s Whiplash from Damien Chazelle. The company was also behind Spike Lee’s BlacKkKlansman and is producing Richard Linklater’s adaptation of the musical Merrily We Roll Along. Greengrass also said this about his vision for The Uprising:
And you need to go back in time, but also it's really quite contemporary and, thanks to these guys, you have characters that you wanna follow as destiny as you really care about. You have an intimate story, a love story in the middle of it. And, a central character goes on a journey. So, you have to try and fashion a big piece of cinema. If people are gonna come out, they've gotta feel like they've had entertainment for two hours.
The Uprising follows Andrew Garfield as a ploughman who’s lost his wife and kids to the Black Death and helps start a revolt against the crown. When Garfield’s character, who is literally named Ploughman, witnesses unfair tax collection in town, he calls out the unjust treatment of the townspeople. He ultimately leads a march into London to demand that Richard II, who’s just 14 years old, be made king.
The movie also stars Jamie Bell, Tom Hollander, Thomasin McKenzie and Katherine Waterston. It’s definitely not a horror movie, and more of a historical epic and action drama, but one could definitely see why Jason Blum might be interested in producing the project that’s outside his typical wheelhouse. You can check out the trailer for The Uprising below:
![THE UPRISING - Official Trailer [HD] - Only In Theaters September 10 - YouTube](https://img.youtube.com/vi/ZVkrhHebz1Q/maxresdefault.jpg)
Paul Greengrass is famously behind the Bourne trilogy and other thrillers like Green Zone and Captain Phillips. The Uprising comes as Blumhouse has been having an unprecedented year in the realm of horror, particularly with Obsession and Backrooms’ back-to-back success earlier this year. You can check out The Uprising in theaters starting September 10.
