Armie Hammerhas a knack for narrowly avoiding major controversies in his career, and it looks like his upcoming film is following in his footsteps. You might know theCall Me by Your Nameactor from his leaked, scandalous and cannibalistic texts that detailed abusive sexual fantasies, which he has been reeling from ever since andrecently explained away as poor behavior and a hunting ritual. However, earlier this year, Hammer made a big jump back into the spotlight, sparking yet another controversy when his upcoming film was revealed to be namedThe Dark Knight. Sound familiar? Well, Batman fans everywhere and Dark Knight IP holder Warner Bros. certainly thought so, prompting a title change.
Directed byPostalandHouse of the Deaddirector Uwe Boll, Hammer’s upcoming film about a man turned vigilante was, until recently, titledThe Dark Knight.Why a filmmaker would choose to name their film after one of the most successful movie trilogies of modern cinema is mind-boggling to say the least, but Boll and executive producer Michael Roesch have seemingly come to their senses after Warner Bros. kindly asked for a name change. The film was recently retitledCitizen Vigilante. While the new name definitely avoids being mistaken for Christian Bale’s second Batman film, featuring the most highly-regarded performance in superhero films, Heath Ledger’s Joker, it still isn’t very search-engine friendly. Boll’s statement:
“We had a very friendly conversation with Warner Bros. and decided to change our title to ‘Citizen Vigilante’ to avoid any confusion with Warners’ famous character."
Armie Hammer Will Play ‘The Dark Knight’ in New Movie From Notorious Schlock Director Uwe Boll
This is not The Dark Knight you know and love.
Hammer can’t seem to avoid angering the public to save his life. Whilethe actor claims to be in extremely high demand, audiences are still weary of the controversial actor’s return to the silver screen, especially after the 2022 documentary about Hammer’s allegedly sexually abusive past and dysfunctional family life, titledHouse of Hammer. After the texts understandably turned some fans off forever, it seems that now Hammer is ready to come back to acting and decided to do so in a project that is virtually unsearchable due to its similar name and premise to one of Christopher Nolan’s most beloved films.
Can a Name Save the Tainted Perception of ‘Citizen Vigilante’?
Although Boll is famous for his affinity for making schlock films, you’d think that the director would at least want audiences to be able to find his film on Google. When searching the web for a very broad and commonly used term in the post-Batman and superhero fame era, it can be hard to get information about Boll’s upcoming film. The new name, while avoiding the glaring issues of the first one, is about as forgettable and unsearchable as titles come.
Obviously, directors should not create their art with the internet and SEO principles solely in mind, but if they were going to have to change the title, they had the opportunity to come up with something a bit more specific. However, it seems thatCitizen Vigilanteis exactly what the film is shaping up to be about.
Using Nolan’s title was no accident, which to some fans is already an egregious overstep on the memory of one of Ledger’s last performances before his unfortunate passing. The film is quite literally a reference to the caped crusader, but, Hammer’s past transgressions aside (if possible), willCitizen Vigilantehave what it takes to make its own in a world dominated by the one and only Batman?
Source:Variety
Citizen Vigilante
