‘Citizen Vigilante’ gains global distribution after Elon Musk’s advocacy
Uwe Boll, the director of the firm, had his first big US interview with Jack Posobiec on Human Events Daily.
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Uwe Boll, the director of the firm, had his first big US interview with Jack Posobiec on Human Events Daily.
Armie Hammer’s new movie “Citizen Vigilante,” which has been heavily censored and banned in Germany, has secured a major international distribution deal after Elon Musk promoted the film to his more than 240 million X followers.
According to Variety, Quiver Distribution has acquired worldwide rights to the controversial action thriller, excluding the U.K., German-speaking territories, South Korea, and Taiwan. The company had already released the film in North America on June 19.
The international deal follows Musk’s decision last week to make the entire film available for free on X for 48 hours, dramatically expanding its reach far beyond what its independent distributor could have achieved through traditional marketing.
Director Uwe Boll told Variety that Musk first contacted the team behind his U.S.-based podcast before requesting permission to upload the film. “I thought that it must be a parody account,” Boll said. “You’re not really thinking that he would contact you, but then it turned out it was true.”
“There is, of course, a good and a bad side of the X posting,” Boll said. “You get a lot of PR, but you don’t get a lot of money.” He added that despite this, agreeing to Musk’s proposal was an easy decision. During an interview with Jack Posobiec on Human Events Daily, where he had his first big US interview, Boll said that the movie was being restricted in Germany for political reasons.
“They have a rating system, and this rating system is also kind of a political rating system,” he said, adding that authorities believed “that movie is like inciting violence, you know, people could basically do what the guy is doing in the film.”
Boll also told The Telegraph that the film was denied a certificate by Germany’s ratings board, in what he called “a deliberate censorship decision”. He said: “I hired a lawyer to complain about it, but we lost in a six-two vote, as I was told that the film was inciting violence against migrants.”
Despite attempts to suppress the movie, it has earned roughly $600,000 in North America so far, according to Boll, who said he hopes to produce a sequel next year if the movie continues to gain momentum.
Hammer stars as Sanders, a vigilante targeting criminal organizations, marking one of the actor’s first leading roles since allegations of sexual misconduct derailed his Hollywood career in 2021. Hammer has denied engaging in criminal conduct, and no criminal charges were filed against him.
Boll said he expects Hammer would “be happy” to return for a sequel if the project moves forward.
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