Taika Waititi's new film, Next Goal Wins, will feature Will Arnett playing a role initially set for Armie Hammer. Waititi, known for his films, Thor: Ragnarok and the Oscar-winning Jojo Rabbit, is set to adapt the film from a 2014 documentary of the same name. Arnett is known for his work in television through critically acclaimed roles in Arrested Development and Bojack Horseman, where he voiced the titular character.
Next Goal Wins will follow the career of Thomas Rongen (played by Michael Fassbender) as he tries to turn around the American Samoa soccer team that lost a historic 31-0 in 2001, and have been followed by defeat ever since. Rongen must whip the team into shape if they are to qualify for the 2014 FIFA World Cup and save face. Next Goal Wins will also feature Elisabeth Moss, Frankie Adams, Oscar Knightly, Rhys Darby, and Kimana, who will portray non-binary player Jaiyah Saelua, the first openly non-binary person to compete in a World Cup qualifier.
The news comes from Deadline that Arnett will replace Hammer, because Hammer wasn't available for reshoots. The role, only expected to be a cameo initially, will be expanded due to the recasting as the film takes shape in post-production. It seems that Hammer was not let go from the project, as he was removed from Billion Dollar Spy and dropped by his publicist following allegations of abuse.
Hammer, having dropped out of multiple projects since January, such as Shotgun Wedding and the Broadway revival of The Minutes, has done so due to ongoing controversies relating to abuse allegations from women he's been connected to. The allegations include rape, cannibalism, and other forms of sexual violence. Hammer has been also been the subject of an LAPD sexual assault investigation since February 2021. The actor's legal team has denied all allegations.
Hammer's replacement brings to mind Kevin Spacey's replacement by Christopher Plummer in Ridley Scott's All The Money In The World, after Spacey's own misconduct allegations were made public. However, unlike Scott's film, where Scott went back to replace Spacey after the film was finished, Waititi publicly is only replacing Hammer due to the actor's lack of availability. However, it's easy to see how Waititi would want to avoid controversy and keep his film away from rewarding alleged horrendous behavior. Waititi, with another Thor movie and a potential new Star Wars film in the works, should want to let Next Goal Wins be the triumphant inspirational comedy it's setting out to be, away from any real-life controversy.
Source: Deadline