The Lone Ranger and The Man from U.N.C.L.E. star Armie Hammer is attempting a career comeback following allegations of sexual misconduct in 2021. Los Angeles prosecutors ultimately decided against charging the actor, but his reputation took a serious hit.
Hammer was on his way to the A-List but is largely being relegated to what would have once been "direct-to-DVD" fare at this stage in his career. Last year, he shot Frontier Crucible with Thomas Jane and William H. Macy, and next up is The Dark Knight. Or not.
The action-crime thriller made headlines for sharing a title with 2008's The Dark Knight, Christopher Nolan's critically acclaimed Batman movie starring Christian Bale and Heath Ledger. Had it not been for that, chances are it would have been announced and quickly forgotten; either way, a name change has followed.
Variety has confirmed that The Dark Knight's title is now Citizen Vigilante. The movie, written and directed by filmmaker Uwe Boll (BloodRayne), will see Hammer play Sanders, a man who takes justice into his own hands and sets out to hunt down criminals. His vigilante crusade turns him into a social media sensation and a hero in the eyes of the public.
"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," Boll said today.
Executive producer Michael Roesch added, "We also got a lot of feedback from fans, who asked us to change the title because of its similarity with Chris Nolan’s movie, so this was another factor in changing the title."
He explained that Warner Bros. "contacted us and asked us to change the title. It was a very amicable discussion." Roesch also acknowledged that the movie's creative team received "a lot of feedback through social media, emails and comments to articles in the media."
The backlash to the news that Hammer's next movie would be titled The Dark Knight was vocal, so this change isn't hugely surprising.
Citizen Vigilante was shot entirely in and around Zagreb, Croatia. "It is set in an Eastern European city, and while we don’t mention the name of the city in the movie, people who know the city will recognize it is Zagreb, so it is set in Croatia," Roesch explained. "But it is a universal story and could play in every bigger European city."
The movie doesn't have a release date but will be at this year's Cannes Film Market. "Although we are ahead of schedule, the full movie will most likely not be finished by then," Roesch noted.
Are you looking forward to checking out The Dark Knight Citizen Vigilante?