Things are continuing to go from bad to worse for Armie Hammer, with the career of the industry’s pre-eminent rumored cannibal appearing to be in complete free fall. It should be stressed that as of this moment, the 34 year-old has yet to be charged with any sort of offense, while he’s subpoenaing social media networks to prove that he doesn’t have a taste for human flesh, but things certainly aren’t looking good for his immediate prospects.
After exiting action comedy Shotgun Wedding and drama The Offer, or been asked to leave, The Lone Ranger star has since been dropped by both his representatives and his publicist. And depending on how the repeated allegations play out, the marketing teams behind the three movies that Hammer already had in the can could be facing some serious headaches.
He takes second billing behind Gary Oldman in this month’s ironically-titled thriller Crisis, and plays a small role in Taika Waititi’s undated sports comedy Next Goal Wins. The third project, meanwhile, is Kenneth Branagh’s mystery sequel Death on the Nile, with insider Daniel Richtman now claiming that Hammer’s part as Simon Doyle could be recast and reshot along the lines of how Kevin Spacey was erased from Ridley Scott’s All the Money in the World and replaced on short notice by the late Christopher Plummer, who went on to land an Academy Award nomination for his performance.
“After the Armie Hammer thing now [the studio] are considering recasting and replacing via reshoots on Death on the Nile and downplay his role there till a decision on that is made,” says the tipster.
As a Disney-owned sequel to a surprise hit that made over $350 million at the box office, there’ve been rumors that the Hammer situation was a concern for the Mouse House when Branagh’s Agatha Christie adaptations could prove to be a lucrative adult-skewing franchise for the rebranded 20th Century Studios. Death on the Nile isn’t scheduled for release until September, so there’s still plenty of time for the ongoing cannibalism saga to play out before a final decision is made, but right now, it’s definitely not looking good for the actor.
