Taika Waititi’s Next Goal Wins Drops Armie Hammer for Will Arnett

The latest project to cut ties with Armie Hammer is the upcoming film Next Goal Wins. From director Taika Waititi, the film was set to star Hammer in a notable role as an executive at the Football Federation American Samoa. Though his scenes had already been filmed, Variety reports Will Arnett has officially replaced Hammer and that the film crew has already reshot Hammer’s scenes.

With Taika Waititi at the helm, Next Goal Wins is based on the 2015 documentary of the same name. The true-life story follows Dutch coach Thomas Rongen as he attempts to lead the American Samoa soccer team to glory. Waititi co-wrote the screenplay for the film adaptation alongside Iain Morris. The film also stars Elisabeth Moss, Oscar Kightley, David Fane, Beulah Koale, Lehi Falepapalangi, Semu Filipo, Uli Latukefu, and Angus Sampson.

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This move is not particularly surprising given the controversy attached to Hammer’s name. The actor was accused of sexual assault with the Los Angeles Police Department currently investigating the claims. Hammer has denied them and has not been charged with any crimes due to the allegations at this time, but they’ve nevertheless negatively affected his career. He lost his roles in the Jennifer Lopez romantic comedy Shotgun Wedding and a scripted series about the making of The Godfather that’s in development at Paramount+. Hammer was also fired from the upcoming Broadway production of The Minutes.

Even so, Armie Hammer is front and center in the upcoming film Death on the Nile, due to hit theaters in February 2022. Directed by Kenneth Branagh, the mystery thriller features Hammer as part of an ensemble that also includes Tom Bateman, Annette Bening, Russell Brand, Gal Gadot, Ali Fazal, Rose Leslie, and Letitia Wright. In this case, filming had already been wrapped by the end of 2019 before allegations against Hammer surfaced. It would have been incredibly costly at this point to reshoot Hammer’s scenes, so 20th Century will instead release the film as-is while hoping for the best.

Whether or not Hammer will ever get big roles in theatrical releases again might depend upon the results of the police investigation. Hammer’s previous films include notable roles in The Social Network, J. Edgar, The Lone Ranger, The Man from U.N.C.L.E., and On the Basis of Sex. He also was nominated for a Best Supporting Actor award at the Golden Globes for his role in Luca Guadagnino’s Call Me by Your Name. Earlier this year, he appeared in the Nicholas Jarecki film Crisis with Gary Oldman and Evangeline Lilly.

As for Will Arnett, he is very well known for his role as Gob Bluth in Arrested Development, a character he’s been playing for nearly 20 years. The voice of BoJack Horseman, Arnett has also appeared in movies like Blades of Glory, Jonah Hex, and Show Dogs, and his recurring role as Devon Banks in 30 Rock earned him four nominations for Outstanding Guest Actor at the Primetime Emmy Awards. He also did voiceover work for the new animated wrestling movie Rumble and will appear in the upcoming series Murdertown.

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Jeremy Dick
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Jeremy Dick has been writing for MovieWeb and Horror Geek Life for years, is the self-proclaimed biggest fan of Bob Saget, and doesn’t particularly like talking about himself in the third person.

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