‘He’s gonna be chewing on the scenery’: Armie Hammer makes Hollywood return in next movie from someone almost as controversial as him

A few years after a major scandal that involved claims of abuse and cannibalism, Armie Hammer looks poised to make his Hollywood return, but not without an expected dose of controversy. 

The actor, who hasn’t taken on a film role since 2021, has reportedly joined the cast of Frontier Crucible, an upcoming western film also starring The Mist and The Predator actor Thomas Jane. Alongside that pair, Frontier Crucible has tapped fellow castmates like Myles Clohessy, Eli Brown, and Eddie Spears, the last of whom has western-adjacent experience after appearing on Yellowstone. 

Naturally, audience reactions to news of Hammer’s casting have been divisive, with some writing that they have been “waiting for so long” for the actor’s return and others saying Hollywood’s “eagerness to rehabilitate him is curious.” Some users couldn’t get past the cannibalism of it all, quipping that the actor is going to “be chewing on the scenery” of the film set and that it will involve an “interesting craft services table.”    

Beyond Hammer, the cast of Frontier Crucible seems uncontroversial enough, but a closer look at the production credits reveals that Hammer isn’t the only hot-button name surrounding the project. Dallas Sonnier — who has elsewhere been involved in films like Bone Tomahawk and Run Hide Fight — is on board to produce Frontier Crucible, and his name rings a bell that chimes all the way back to 2020. 

At that time, and in the height of the #MeToo movement, Sonnier’s movie studio Cinestate became plagued by allegations of sexual harassment and abuse. While the allegations did not pertain to Sonnier himself — they were levelled mostly against one of his company’s producers, Adam Donaghey, as well as multiple members of his crew — Sonnier was nonetheless accused of downplaying the allegations, fostering an unsafe film set, and brushing off the predatory behavior of his employees.

Of course, the same #MeToo movement that brought these allegations to the fore also embroiled Hammer, who was accused of sexual assault by multiple women in 2021. The bombshell story even included allegations that the Call Me By Your Name actor was a cannibal, and left him abandoning multiple film projects after being dropped by his agent and publicist. 

In the wake of the accusations — all of which he denied — investigators ultimately declined to pursue criminal charges against Hammer due to insufficient evidence, with Frontier Crucible marking his first film credit since all that controversy went down. Referencing his involvement in the western movie on social media, Hammer posted an image of himself holding the script while wearing a cowboy hat, accompanied by the caption “Back in the saddle.” 

It will mark Hammer’s first time on the big screen since 2022’s Death on the Nile, and appears to form part of his Hollywood comeback alongside the launch of his new podcast, The Armie HammerTime Podcast. The first episode of the podcast was released earlier this week, and while you’d think Hammer might want to steer clear of any headline-grabbing moments, that turned out not to be the case. 

“I’m not going to lie, I kind of like the cannibal stuff now,” Hammer told podcast guest and Roseanne actor Tom Arnold. “Someone says something about you, everyone believes it, and they move on with their lives to whatever it is they’re focused on.” There’s no word yet on when Frontier Crucible will be released, but expect more head-scratching quotes from Hammer in the meantime.