Hugh Jackman steps into Sherwood Forest shadows as an aging Robin Hood, battered and haunted after decades of banditry and killing. The film pulls from a 17th-century ballad where the folk hero meets his end, wounded from battle and tended by a cryptic healer who forces him to confront his bloody ledger.
Unlike the merry archer kids know from cartoons or Errol Flynn’s swashbuckling 1938 classic, this version paints him as a monstrous brigand, wrestling salvation amid gore-soaked flashbacks.
The MPAA slapped it with an R for strong bloody violence, a stark break from the PG-13 pack that defined big-screen Robins like Russell Crowe’s 2010 epic or Taron Egerton’s 2018 flop.
Only niche efforts like The Siege of Robin Hood dared that territory before, but none packed A24’s pedigree or Jackman’s draw. Production wrapped in Northern Ireland on 35mm last spring, with trailers already teasing mud-caked brawls and Jackman’s gravelly confession of uncountable murders.
Director Michael Sarnoski, fresh off A Quiet Place: Day One, crafts a thriller over adventure, spotlighting regret over robbery. Jackman himself called the script a raw probe of power’s dual edges, good and evil, in chats with outlets like Entertainment Weekly.
Bill Skarsgård muscles up as Little John, Jodie Comer lurks as the enigmatic nurse, while Noah Jupe and Murray Bartlett round out a cast primed for moral murk.
Rare Bloodbath Rating Riles Up Robin’s Reel History
Robin Hood tales hit screens over 50 times, from Disney’s G-rated fox in 1973 to PG-13 spectacles chasing family dollars, yet R-rated outliers stayed sidelined. Crowe’s Ridley Scott cut toned down carnage to snag that milder tag, pulling $321 million worldwide despite mixed buzz at 43% on Rotten Tomatoes.
Egerton’s modernised take tanked harder, scraping $86 million against a $100 million budget with a dismal 14% score.
This A24 entry flips the script, leaning into brutal stabs and impalings that trailers flaunt without mercy. MPA parents’ guides flag the intensity, marking a pivot for a character long sanitized for broad appeal.
The Death of Robin Hood (Credit: A24)
Low-budget horrors like Robin Hood: Ghosts of Sherwood grabbed R stamps too, but lacked star power or distributor muscle. A24’s track record with bold swings like Hereditary or Midsommar signals they chase prestige over popcorn crowds.
Recent TV fare, like MGM+’s Sean Bean-led series at 77% approval, hints audiences crave grittier takes, though there’s no season two yet.
Jackman’s post-trailer fan reactions split online, some cheering the “evil” anti-hero vibe, others mourning the merry man’s makeover. Reddit threads buzz with bets on the box office, eyeing if R walls off younger viewers who fueled past hits.
Trailer Buzz Signals A24’s Bloody Box Office Bet
First-look images dropped Jackman was rugged, with wild hair and a tangled beard, far from Lincoln-green polish.
Trailers hit in early January 2026, racking up views with stark mud fields, savage clashes, and lines like “The legend was a lie” that gut-punch the myth. Outlets like Bloody Disgusting hailed the “strong bloody violence” as a fresh gut-spill for folklore.
A24 snagged U.S. rights at Cannes in 2024, beating rivals, with producers like Aaron Ryder banking on Sarnoski’s intimate grit. No firm date locks yet beyond 2026, but whispers point to summer slots against lighter superhero fare.
Jackman’s post-Wolverine phase, mixing stage returns and indies, positions this as a passion play, echoing his praise for the “beautifully human” depth.
Social waves crash with hype: YouTube reactions dub it “he’s evil?!?” while sites like ScreenRant flag the rating as the rarest yet. Critics ponder if gore overload risks alienating casual fans, but cast prestige and the A24 aura fuel optimism.
For Jackman loyalists, it promises another shape-shift, from claws to quiver, in a forest where heroes bleed first. One fan site captured the split: the brutal promise thrills genre hounds, but purists fear it strays too far from the hood’s heart.
Josh Safdie dropped the bombshell on A24’s podcast with Sean Baker: an early Marty Supreme cut flashed forward to Marty Mauser at a 1980s Tears for Fears show with his granddaughter, only for Kevin O’Leary’s Milton Rockwell to lunge from the shadows and sink teeth into his neck.
The team crafted aging prosthetics for Timothée Chalamet, keeping his frame spry to hammer home eternal life minus true purpose, all set to “Everybody Wants to Rule the World.” O’Leary sparked the idea himself, ad-libbing his third-act brag, “I was born in 1601. I’m a vampire” during script tweaks with co-writer Ronald Bronstein.
That line stuck through edits, nodding to the axed horror without committing, while Safdie eyed it as a metaphor for anachronistic music underscoring the past chasing the future. A24 execs balked hard, blurting, “This is a mistake, right?” when they read the fangs-out close.
O’Leary later geeked out to Variety about digital chompers prepped for his bite, calling it poetic payback for Marty’s hustles. The pivot grounded the chaos in human stakes, landing on Marty weeping over his newborn son after ditching wounded Rachel for Tokyo glory.
From Reisman Hustle to Safdie Fever Dream
Marty Supreme riffs loosely on real-life ping-pong legend Marty Reisman, blending his 1974 memoir grit with Safdie’s Uncut Gems frenzy.
Chalamet channels a 1950s New York shoe clerk turned table tennis obsessive, robbing his uncle’s vault, bedding faded starlet Kay Stone via Gwyneth Paltrow, and dodging mobsters for tournament cash.
Odessa A’zion’s Rachel pulls him into domestic traps, Tyler, the Creator, hustles taxis, and Abel Ferrara snarls as a gangster crossed by a runaway pooch.
Safdie, solo-directing post-brother Benny collabs, shot on 35mm with Darius Khondji’s magnifier lenses for sweat-close intensity, ballooning A24’s biggest budget past $60 million. Chalamet drilled ping-pong for months with coaches, even taking real paddle whacks from O’Leary sans stunt double.
Timothée Chalamet (Credit: BBC)
Non-actors pepper the mix, from Philippe Petit’s high-wire-walking cameos to Penn Jillette’s farming fury, echoing Safdie’s street-cast ethos. The vampire scrap joined other trims like post-credits future flashes, sharpening a 150-minute sprint now at 93% on Rotten Tomatoes.
Box office hit $87 million worldwide by mid-January 2026, making it A24’s UK champ, off a wide Christmas launch, topping charts despite indie roots. Critics crown Chalamet’s “infectiously charismatic” turn a career best, nabbing Golden Globe and Critics’ Choice nods amid top-10 lists from IndieWire to BBC.
Why Ditch the Bite? A24’s Smart Sanity Call
Vampire vibes tied ambition’s curse: win eternal wins, lose soul’s spark, mirroring Marty’s racket regrets amid anachronistic Tears for Fears pangs.
Yet restraint ruled, dodging genre whiplash for the emotional punch that fueled the Golden Globes haul and NYFF secret-slot buzz. O’Leary floated a darker alt, like Rachel dying in labor, but Safdie vetoed excess bleakness.
Fans dissect remnants online, Reddit threads geeking Rockwell’s eternal brag as an Easter egg to the road-not-taken horror.
Chalamet’s promo stunts amplified hype: orange blimps soaring skies, Sphere-top selfies, and Nahmias jackets gifted to Tom Brady and Ringo Starr. Safdie credits the cut for thematic punch, past haunting future without literal blood, letting ambiguity bite deeper.
Awards chatter positions it for the 2026 Oscars clash, with the National Board of Review and AFI top-10 picks underscoring that the grounded gamble paid off.
O’Leary jokes the fangs will lurk in DVD extras someday, while Safdie eyes future wilds tempered by studio reins. For Chalamet, it cements his shape-shifter status, from Wonka whimsy to ping-pong predator eyeing a family fix.
