Disney and 20th Century Studios have revealed the trailer for their upcoming mystery thriller, Death on the Nile.

The film's promotional clip caused a sensation after its publication, due to the participation of American actor Armie Hammer in the film;

Despite being accused of rape and assaulting several women, he was not excluded from this work.

Hammer, 35, appears in several scenes in the trailer, and even in the foreground of the movie poster, standing next to the controversial Israeli actress Gal Gadot, which the American magazine "Hollywood Reporter" described that Disney "does not try to hide Hammer from public opinion. ', while investigations are still ongoing.

shocking accusations

Hammer angered public opinion last January, when messages sent by the actor to several women were leaked, and the alleged messages indicate his fantasies related to cannibalism and rape, and that scandal was followed by a torrent of accusations of sexual assault, emotional abuse, extortion and coercion, directed by several women. Including his ex-girlfriends.

Less than two months later, a woman named Evie accused Hammer of raping her in 2017, and 24-year-old Effie said - during a press conference - "I thought he would kill me."

Commenting on the accusations against Hammer, his ex-wife, Elizabeth Chambers, expressed - via "Instagram" - her shock and deep sadness at what was published by the women who allege that they were sexually assaulted, and announced her support for the victims, saying, "I support any victim of abuse, and I urge any human being." She went through this pain to seek the help she needs to recover."

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While Hammer denied the allegations, the accusations rocked his career;

He has been dumped by his agency, and he has also been left out of several major hits, including "Shotgun Wedding" starring Jennifer Lopez, and the mini-series "The Offer," which revolves around the production of a trilogy. "The Godfather", which Hammer was supposed to play the title role.

critical situation

These accusations put the team in an awkward position.

The allegations surfaced more than a year after the production of “Crime on the Banks of the Nile”, and it was scheduled to be shown in cinemas in 2020, but its release was delayed due to the Corona pandemic.

Disney considered several options after the accusations surfaced;

Among them is the reshoot of the film and the replacement of Hammer with another actor, an option made by producer and director Ridley Scott - one of the producers of "Crime on the Banks of the Nile" - when he reshoots the movie "All the Money in the World" in 2017. After the American actor Kevin Spacey was accused of sexual assault, but in light of the repercussions of Corona, the option to bring the actors together again was almost impossible.

Another option to deal with this problem was to use technology to edit the film or alter some of its events, but this would have been as challenging as reshoots, given the size of the actors and the complex story line.

The Hollywood Reporter stated that stopping the film or selling it to a platform would have harmed the cast and crew, so Disney's final decision was to leave the film and release it without any modifications, or even try to mitigate the appearance of the controversial actor in the advertising campaign.

Murder was just the beginning.

See @DOTNMovie in theaters February 11. pic.twitter.com/pJPow0YgOl

— 20th Century Studios (@20thcentury) December 21, 2021

The production company did not comment on the controversy sparked by Hammer's appearance, despite the fact that the investigation into the accusations against him had not ended, but Steve Aspel, head of production for "Twentieth Century Studios" - in a statement - expressed his great pride in the work and the cast, and said, "We are very proud of this film, And with the genius acting crew and the wonderful work that contributed to bringing 'A Crime on the Banks of the Nile' to the screen."

Hammer is not the only controversial actor in the film, as the Israeli actress Gal Gadot, who served for two years as a soldier in the Israeli occupation army, co-stars, and her statements last May - during the recent Israeli attack on Gaza - sparked a huge wave of criticism against her after she demanded: "Israel's right to live in freedom and security," at a time when Israel was facing accusations of ethnic cleansing and genocide against the Palestinians.

The movie "Crime on the Banks of the Nile" - adapted from one of the novels of the famous writer Agatha Christie - revolves in the thirties of the last century about the murder of a passenger on a luxury ship that brought together a group of businessmen and the world's wealthy on a trip down the Nile. Hercule Poirot, Christie's novel, played by director Kenneth Branagh, Gadot as Lynette Ridgway Doyle, and Hammer as her husband Simon Doyle.