Armie Hammer’s return to the big screen has hit another obstacle, with his new film being blocked in Germany after the actor compared his fall from Hollywood to being “crucified”.
Hammer, known for Call Me By Your Name, came under intense scrutiny in 2021 after being accused by a woman he had previously been in an on-and-off relationship with of rape and physical abuse.
At the same time, several other women made allegations of misconduct and shared purported messages said to involve BDSM themes and cannibalistic fantasies.
Hammer denied the allegations. Prosecutors in Los Angeles later decided not to bring criminal charges, citing “insufficient evidence” as well as the “complexity of the relationship” between Hammer and the accuser.
In a recent interview with The Hollywood Reporter, Hammer reflected on the backlash and described the experience as being “crucified”.
He said his father wanted him to push back publicly against those accusing him, but Hammer remembered responding: “‘Look, dude, I’m already on the cross. The nails are in my hands. I’m not getting off this cross no matter what we do’.”
Speaking further about the controversy, Hammer said: “I made these problems for myself. This didn’t happen to me by a fluke accident.
“I didn’t do what people are saying I did. But I brought very dangerous and unsafe people into my life, and I p***** off people in my life — and here we are.”
The 39-year-old is now attempting a film comeback through Citizen Vigilante, a project that has already generated significant controversy of its own.
The action thriller, directed by German filmmaker Uwe Boll, stars Hammer as Sanders, a wealthy American businessman living overseas who becomes a vigilante after deciding the state is failing to protect ordinary people. The film has drawn criticism over its violent content and anti-immigration themes.
German ratings authority the FSK refused to give the movie a classification, effectively blocking a normal release in the country. Boll has said that means the film can only be accessed in Germany through imported physical media rather than a standard local distribution.
Director Uwe Boll has defended the project and recently told the Independent that he’s “not a Nazi”.
“Now you’re being told that if you’re a conservative about anything – social, sexual, political – that you’re a Nazi,” the director, who’s from Germany, added to the outlet.
He continued: “If you question anything – such as the hundreds of billions being pumped into Ukraine – then you’re either a friend of Putin or a Nazi or both.”
Boll also claimed the decision amounted to deliberate censorship by German authorities.
“The rating system refused to give us a rating, so now you can only watch it if you bring in a Blu-ray from Austria or Switzerland,” the director added to the Independent.
“And I think they did that on purpose. It was a deliberate censorship decision. I hired a lawyer to complain about it, but we lost in a six-two vote, as I was told that the film was inciting violence against migrants.”
Citizen Vigilante is scheduled to be released in the US on Friday, June 19, through digital and streaming platforms.
The film marks Hammer’s first major leading role since Death on the Nile and comes after several years in which he said he was effectively shut out of Hollywood work. In the same interview, he said the offer to star in the movie was the first job call he had received in years.