Now that Armie Hammer, 32, has had time to think about it, he is unsure about revisiting his character, Oliver, from the 2017 coming-of-age drama, Call Me By Your Name.
Fans of the film were enamored of the brilliant performances by Hammer and his on-screen love interest Timothée Chalamet as their characters' slow-burn affection for one another unfurled into a passionate dalliance against the vista of a sumptuous Italian countryside in the early 1980s.
The poignant ending left fans of the film wondering, where would they go from here?
Now audiences may never know because Hammer is pulling out, so to speak.
He believes in leaving the beautiful production in the past, with no chance of a sequel to ruin it.
The actor told Vulture:
"I think we're setting ourselves up for disappointment."
"I don't know that anything will match up to the first, you know?"
Hammer's new outlook is an about-face from last year's comment in which he teased Variety about a CMBYN 2, "it will happen."
"Because there are already people working on it and trying to make it happen."
Hammer, who stars in Hotel Mumbai with costar Dev Patel, continued in the Variety interview:
"More than anything I trust the artistic direction to Luca and [novelist] André Aciman and to those guys who did such a good job handling it the first time around."
"The only thing I want to see is I want to see it happen. I want to do it again."
He reflected on the entire filming experience as a "special time."
"If we get to do another one, I'll feel really lucky."
Director Luca Guadagnino had already expressed interest in making a sequel with Hammer and Chalamet that takes place during the 1990s at the early stages of the AIDS epidemic.
But now the 6'5 tall gent is changing his tune, and Vulture contributor Rachel Handler asked why the honeymoon is over.
"Timmy's out! I'm not sure why. Timmy said the only way he'd do it is if they paid him $15 million," he joked, referring to his Oscar-nominated costar and friend.
"No, the truth is, there have been really loose conversations about it, but at the end of the day – I'm sort of coming around to the idea that the first one was so special for everyone who made it, and so many people who watched it felt like it really touched them, or spoke to them."
"And it felt like a really perfect storm of so many things."
In addition to believing lightning won't strike twice, Hammer said he hasn't spoken with Chalamet or Guadagnino about revisiting CMBYN.
However, he did concede:
"If we end up with an incredible script, and Timmy's in and Luca's in, I'd be an asshole to say no."
"But at the same time, I'm like, 'That was such a special thing, why don't we just leave that alone?"'
Some fans agree with Hammer.
People wanting to return to rustic Italy and see more love-making with peaches felt dejected.
One cinemaphile offered a suggestion in the hopes of keeping Oliver and Elio alive.
CMBYN was based on André Aciman's eponymous novel that was published in 2007. The story was never intended as a series, and there is currently no script to extend Oliver and Elio's story.
For now.
@GregAbbott_TX/X
