Allen-based film distributor Well Go USA Entertainment is slated to release a Western thriller starring former Highland Park resident Armie Hammer and William H. Macy. The movie, called Frontier Crucible, comes out Dec. 5 in theaters.
Based on the 1961 novel Desert Stake-Out by Harry Whittington, Frontier Crucible follows an ex-soldier named Merrick Beckford (Myles Clohessy) who teams up with three outlaws (one played by Hammer) to guide a wagon carrying medical supplies in 1870s Arizona.
“When they accidentally kill an Apache scout, all bets are off, and survival is the name of the game,” the movie’s description reads.
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The project marks Hammer’s return to the big screen.
The actor, 39, lived in Highland Park for part of his childhood before rising to fame in the 2010s with roles in Call Me by Your Name and The Social Network. He later retreated from the public eye after allegations of sexual misconduct that emerged around 2021. A former partner had shared on social media vulgar messages from Hammer in which he allegedly expressed cannibalistic desires.
Hammer, who has denied allegations of cannibalism and sexual assault, had a stint in the Cayman Islands as a timeshare salesman before pursuing a comeback with a podcast he launched last October.
“I’ve been gone for the last four years and now I’m back,” he said at the time. “What are you gonna do? So it’s going to be a sort of journal, or a chronicling, of putting my life back together.”
Earlier this month, a producer for The Armie HammerTime Podcast announced it was going on hiatus. The episode’s cover image was an empty chair.
“Hammertime has given Armie the space to share his true self and it opened a path for him to return to what he was born to do. The bench is empty because he’s out there chasing the craft he loves — acting,” said producer Jerry Brunskill.
Well Go USA was founded in 1989 by Annie Walker, a businesswoman who emigrated from Taiwan to North Texas. The company has been a large distributor of Asian action films and its recent acquisitions include indies. It was also behind the theatrical release of You Gotta Believe, a 2024 Ty Roberts-directed film that chronicled a Fort Worth Little League team’s Cinderella run to the World Series.
Frontier Crucible is produced by Highland Park native Dallas Sonnier’s company Bonfire Legend.
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