Will Arnett will be replacing Armie Hammer in Taika Waititi’s Searchlight Pictures soccer comedy Next Goal Wins, sources have confirmed to The Hollywood Reporter.
The news of the Hammer’s exit comes after the actor was accused by multiple women of sexual assault. Hammer denied the allegations but the Los Angeles Police Department launched an investigation. He has since been dropped by his agents at WME and exited multiple projects, including the Jennifer Lopez movie Shotgun Wedding and the Godfather series at Paramount+, as well as the Broadway play The Minutes. Hammer will next be seen in the Fox/Disney movie The Death on the Nile, which is due out over Valentine’s Day weekend.
Based on a 2014 British documentary of the same name from Mike Brett and Steve Jamison, Next Goal Wins is an underdog story that follows the national football team of American Samoa and their coach, Thomas Rongen, as they try to transform from perennial losers into a FIFA World Cup-qualifying outfit. Hammer was set to play a soccer executive working at the Football Federation American Samoa, a role that will now be played by Arnett.
Arnett, who recently reshot Hammer’s scenes, will appear alongside stars Michael Fassbender, Elisabeth Moss, David Fane, Beulah Koale, Oscar Kightley and Lehi Falepapalangi, among others.
The Arrested Development actor has been nominated for seven Primetime Emmy Awards, with credits that include 30 Rock, BoJack Horseman and the Lego Movie franchise, where he voices Lego Batman. He was recently seen in Muppets Haunted Mansion and The Morning Show.
Arnett is repped by CAA, Artists First and Sloane Offer.
Source: HollyWood
