By Lucia Caporalini
Trillionaire tech mogul Elon Musk promoted a new ‘anti-migrant’ movie on his platform X by offering a free download from Thursday, June 25.
‘Citizen Vigilante’, directed by German filmmaker Uwe Boll, had already sparked controversy in the past weeks when it was denied an age certificate in Germany.
German authorities stated that the film “incited violence against immigrants”.
The refusal caused the movie to be banned from wide distribution.
Citizen Vigilante’s release on X
Musk decided, however, to take matters into his own hands and allowed the film to be released on X.
He then reposted a link to the film, which was active for 48 hours.
This move resulted in an explosion of interactions and attention for the feature, effectively landing it a previously denied world distribution.
It was not an unexpected provocation from Musk, who openly supports far-right anti-immigrant policies in the past.
Boll told Variety that he hadn’t spoken directly to Musk before the mogul decided to promote the film, but his representatives had contacted the makers of Boll’s podcast, Uwe Ball Raw.
“I didn’t really chat myself with him or talk to him. It was very quick,” he explained.
“I felt also if we don’t, in a way, agree to do it, he would’ve just moved on,” he said.
Armie Hammer’s return to the big screen
‘Citizen Vigilante’ tells the story of former U.S. Army officer Michael Sanders, who relocated to Europe and now secretly operates as the Vigilante Citizen.
His targets are criminals and, most crucially, immigrants who have broken the law.
For the role of Sanders, Boll cast disgraced actor Armie Hammer, which marked his return to the big screen.
It was a huge decline for the actor, who had previously worked with David Fincher in ‘The Social Network’.
He also most notably starred as Oliver in Luca Guadagnino’s ‘Call Me By Your Name’, the film that launched Timothée Chalamet’s career.
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The controversy surrounding Armie Hammer
The American actor was accused of rape and abusive behaviour back in 2021, and has since then stayed away from Hollywood.
During that time, the former actor even relocated to the Cayman Islands, where he worked as a manager for an apartment complex.
He has slowly tried to make a comeback by releasing a weekly podcast called ‘Armie HammerTime Podcast’, where he discusses his personal life, often getting candid about it.
Hammer starred in a movie last year, ‘Frontier Crucible’, before finally landing the main role in ‘Citizen Vigilante’.
Will this new venture mark the definitive revival for Armie Hammer? That’s difficult to say, but for now, we know that a sequel for ‘Citizen Vigilante’ is already in the works.
“Citizen Vigilante 2 will be even better,” Musk posted.
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Newsjustnews writers 
Tyler Lai Sai 
Arwen Lehmann