Call Me By Your Name’s Director Reacts To Releasing Timothée Chalamet Cannibal Movie In The Midst Of Armie Hammer Controversy

At any time there are a variety of wild stories going around about celebrities. Case in point: the controversy surrounding actor Armie Hammer, which was recently turned into a documentary series. Prior to this he was perhaps best known for starring in Luca Guadagnino’s Call Me By Your Name opposite Timothée Chalamet. Now the filmmaker has reacted to releasing his new cannibal movie with Chalamet in the midst of Hammer’s real-life controversies.

The allegations surrounding Armie Hammer indicate that he had fantasies about cannibalism that he reportedly shared with his romantic partners. This ongoing controversy (and allegations of sexual assault) resulted in him losing jobs like his role in Jennifer Lopez’s Shotgun Wedding. Given his Call Me By Your Name connection with both Chalamet and Guadagnino, many moviegoers have found it odd that their next movie will be about a cannibalistic couple (watch the trailer here). The acclaimed filmmaker was recently asked by Deadline about this discourse, saying: 

It didn’t dawn on me. I realized this afterward when I started to be told of some of these innuendos on social media.

Well, there you have it. While the allegations made against Armie Hammer date back to January of 2021, it appears that Luca Guadagnino didn’t see the connection while working on his new movie Bones & All with Timothée Chalamet. But that hasn’t stopped plenty of folks online from making the connection, especially as the documentary surrounding Hammer is going to be released so soon, and he continues to make headlines.

Luca Guadagnino’s comments to Deadline might surprise some fans, given how much chatter has occurred surrounding Bones & All and its possible connection to allegations made against Armie Hammer in real-life. But part of being a great filmmaker is focusing on the material, rather than allowing outside voices to influence the work. Later in the same interview, Guadagnino further explained his feeling son the matter, saying:

This project—which was a popular book—had been in development for a number of years before Dave Kajganich brought it to me in 2020. I responded immediately to these characters who are disenfranchised and living on the edge of society. Any link with anything else exists only in the realm of social media, with which I do not engage. The relationship between this kind of digital muckraking and our wish to make this movie is non-existent and it should be met with a shrug. I would prefer to talk about what the film has to say, rather than things that have nothing to do with it.

And just like that, Luca Guadagnino has set the record straight on Bones & All, and how little Armie Hammer’s legal situation ultimately factored into its production. As he pointed out, the project was in the works long before these allegations came to life. What's more, Guadagnino wants his upcoming movie to stand on its own without the chatter about his Call Me By Your Name actor’s personal life. 

Bones & All is expected to arrive in theaters on November 23rd. In the meantime, check out the 2022 movie release dates to plan your next movie experience. 

Corey Chichizola
Movies Editor

Corey was born and raised in New Jersey. Graduated with degrees theater and literature from Ramapo College of New Jersey. After working in administrative theater for a year in New York, he started as the Weekend Editor at CinemaBlend. He's since been able to work himself up to reviews, phoners, and press junkets-- and is now able to appear on camera with some of his favorite actors... just not as he would have predicted as a kid. He's particularly proud of covering horror franchises like Scream and Halloween, as well as movie musicals like West Side Story. Favorite interviews include Steven Spielberg, Spike Lee, Jamie Lee Curtis, and more.