12:01 PM PST 1/19/2021
in
Borys Kit
Hammer should have starred with Lopez in the Lionsgate romantic action comedy, but a social media controversy hampered those plans.
Jennifer Lopez’s Forced marriage found a new fiance.
A week after Armie Hammer left the Lionsgate romantic action comedy, Josh Duhamel was chosen as his replacement. Duhamel, who appeared at Michael Bay Transformers films, is now in negotiations.
Jason Moore, who directed Pitch perfect, is driving Forced marriage, which has a script New girl creator Liz Meriwether and Mark Hammer. It tells the story of a couple who gathers their families for a destination wedding, even when they are scared. If that were not enough, the whole group is taken hostage.
Hammer and Lopez have been engaged since the fall of 2020, when the project was announced on the American Film Market. The two were going for a shootout in the Dominican Republic when lewd DM rumors would be attributed to the Rebecca star appeared on social media and detailed the film’s plans.
“I am not responding to these shitty allegations, but in the light of the wicked and spurious online attacks against me, I cannot, in good conscience, now leave my children for 4 months to make a film in the Dominican Republic,” Hammer announced in a statement January 13. “Lionsgate is supporting me in this and I am grateful to them for that.”
Earlier that day, a Lionsgate spokesman stated: “Given the imminent start date of Forced marriage, Armie asked to stay away from the film and we support him in his decision. “
A search immediately started for Hammer’s replacement – Lopez is said to have had a say in the process – with Duhamel’s name appearing early on.
Duhamel, represented by ICM Partners and John Carabino Management, starred in the long-lasting 2000s drama Las Vegas while also appearing to fight giant robots disguised in the blockbuster Transformers movies. Marriage is an incentive for Duhamel, who in recent years has taken the lead in indie, as The lost husband and Think like a dog. He’s the next star in Netflix’s big swing, Jupiter’s legacy, the adaptation of the comic written by Mark Millar, which will be released later this year.
If a deal does, Marriage it will probably keep its early February date.
Todd Lieberman and David Hoberman of Mandeville, who produced Lionsgate’s hit movie Wonder, are producing alongside Lopez, Elaine Goldsmith-Thomas and Benny Medina.