The 2016 film by Gary Ross depicts Newton Knight leading an armed revolt against the Confederacy in Jones County, Mississippi during 1863. The story follows his journey from a Confederate soldier who deserts after the Twenty Negro Law to the leader of a Southern Unionist militia that declares independence.
Principal photography began on the 23rd of February 2015 and wrapped on the 28th of May 2015. Filming occurred around New Orleans and Clinton with East Feliciana Parish serving as a primary set location.
The film grossed $25 million worldwide against a production budget of $50 million. North American earnings totaled $20.8 million while other territories contributed $4.2 million.
Gary Ross directed the 2016 film after spending ten years developing the project. He initially declined work on The Hunger Games sequels to focus on financing this passion project.
Davis Knight, Newton's great-grandson, faced arrest under Mississippi anti-miscegenation laws in 1948 because he possessed one-eighth black ancestry. He received a five-year prison sentence for refusing to leave the state but his conviction reversed when the Mississippi Supreme Court ruled in 1949.