Armie Hammer‘s acting career has been in decline over the past year, as multiple women have accused of sexual assault. The entertainer’s fall from grace is becoming more evident with his involvement in two of his latest films, the mystery thriller, Death on the Nile, and the sports comedy-drama, Next Goal Wins.
20th Century Studios, which is set to distribute Death on the Nile in theaters on February 11, released the feature’s official trailer and poster last month. In an effort to downplay Hammer’s starring role in the drama, the studio didn’t place prominence on him in the trailer or poster, as noted by The Hollywood Reporter.
The unveiling of Death on the Nile‘s trailer and poster comes after Disney, which distributes and markets 20th Century Studios’ movies, indefinitely pulled the feature from its original release date in November 2020, due to COVID-19. The allegations against Hammer, which includes him being emotionally abusive and physically violent towards his past partners, surfaced two months later.
Following the women’s allegations, Disney and 20th Century Studios considered reshooting Hammer’s scenes with a new actor or digitally replacing him. However, the studio ultimately decided to keep his role intact, as principal photography on the film had already been finished for over a year at that point. The studios felt that neither option would have been feasible for a film of this scale, due to the pandemic and the large ensemble cast and intricate storyline.
As a result, Hammer’s presence in Death on the Nile‘s trailer was reduced to a flash of a silhouette and one quick line. However, his image remains amongst the ensemble cast on the thriller’s poster.
In Death on the Nile, which was directed and produced by Kenneth Branagh, Hammer plays Simon Doyle, who recently married Gal Gadot’s character, Linnet Ridgeway-Doyle. She brought famed detective Hercule Poirot, who’s played the filmmaker, onboard a post-wedding river cruise. Linnet is fearful that something bad is going to happen, and her premonitions prove true when someone winds up dead.
Death on the Nile is the feature adaptation of Agatha Christie’s classic 1937 novel of the same name. The movie serves as a follow-up to 2017’s mystery film, Murder on the Orient Express, which also featured the helmer-producer as Detective Poirot. In addition to Hammer, Branagh and Gadot, the upcoming drama also stars Annette Bening, Russell Brand, Ali Fazal, Dawn French, Rose Leslie, Emma Mackey, Sophie Okonedo, Jennifer Saunders, and Letitia Wright.
While Hammer is remaining in Death on the Nile, Searchlight Pictures, which is another film studio that’s a subsidiary of Disney, decided to recast the actor in Next Goal Wins. He was replaced by Emmy Award-nominated actor, Will Arnett, Deadline is reporting.
The Arrested Development alum took over the Call Me by Your Name star’s role as an executive at the Football Federation American Samoa in Next Goal Wins. Arnett recently reshot Hammer’s scenes in the movie, which also stars Michael Fassbender, Elizabeth Moss, Oscar Kightley, David Fane, Beulah Koale, Lehi Falepapalangi, Semu Filipo, Uli Latukefu and Angus Sampson.
Next Goal Wins, which was co-written, directed and produced by Oscar-winning filmmaker, Taika Waititi, is based on the 2015 documentary of the same name. It follows the true story of Dutch coach Thomas Rongen, who’s played by Fassbender, as he attempts the nearly impossible task of turning the infamously terrible American Samoa soccer team into a winning organization.
In the wake of the sexcual abuse scandal, Hammer was also fired from several other films and television series. In addition to Next Goal Wins, the actor was replaced in the Jennifer Lopez rom-com, Shotgun Wedding, and a Paramount Plus show about the behind-the-scenes production of The Godfather. He also left the upcoming Broadway production of The Minutes.