Last month, Uwe Boll insisted that his next film, “The Dark Knight,” starring Armie Hammer, wouldn’t be changing its title, and that’s despite pressure from Warner Bros to drop it. That’s why it’s such a bummer to hear that Boll has finally given in to Warners’ demands and nixed the title. Boll’s film will now be called “Citizen Vigilante.”
“We had a very friendly conversation with Warner Bros. and decided to change our title to ‘Citizen Vigilante’ to avoid any confusion with Warners’ famous character,” Boll tells Variety.
“We also got a lot of feedback from fans, who asked us to change the title because of its similarity with Chris Nolan’s movie, so this was another factor in changing the title,” added executive producer Michael Roesch.
Boll had been very insistent that the film’s familiar title would not be confused with Christopher Nolan’s similarly titled 2008 film. It’s a totally different beast: “our movie is very different from Chris Nolan’s movie, so there is no danger of confusion,” Boll said at the time.
During a recent episode of his podcast, Boll confirmed that Warners had contacted him, but he was refusing to cooperate. The film’s title must stick, he stated.
DC and Warner have already contacted me and said I can’t use the title. I understand that, but I told them, “Guys, remember ‘Rampage,” the Rock movie? You used my title. The fact that they did that, and called me for permission, they could show gratefulness and say, listen it’s not a Batman movie and you can use the title.
Boll describes his latest film as going back to the old days of “Rampage,” meaning it’s a “very dark and violent movie” which, tackles the current “landscape in Europe,” one filled with a “migrant situation.” including “rapes and knife attacks.”