Playing tag is every child's rite of passage, but for some adults, declaring "you're it" in the schoolyard game is a rush some refuse to outgrow.
And that is the subject of a new comedy called Tag which is based on a real group of adult friends who get together for one month every year to tag each other as if their lives depended on it.
But don't let the innocuous touchy game fool you. It's physically brutal, as actor Jeremy Renner can attest. On the third day of production on Tag, he suffered two injuries: a fractured right elbow and a fractured left wrist.
With Renner's appendages out of commission, the actor wore two green casts that would be digitally removed and replaced with CGI rendering for the rest of the film, much to the chagrin of film director Jeff Tomsic.
Although he wasn't there on the day of Renner's injury, co-star Jon Hamm confirmed details during Monday's appearance on Ellen.
Yes I can confirm that its true. Jeremy broke both of his arms during production, he wore casts all through production and Jeff edited the casts out in post-production.
Keep in mind this is a guy who's done a hundred Avengers movies and been fine. And he does a movie about playing tag. Both arms, like firewood. Just snapped like a matchstick.
Armed with this intel, Tag moviegoers will be especially vigilant during all of Renner's scenes to check out his CGI'd arms, and that is a distraction Warner Bros. Studio wants to avoid.
Unfortunately, if you look closely in one of Tag's trailers, you could spot where digital artists missed a spot.
Photos of Renner on the set in his green casts are highly coveted and The Huffington Post implored anyone with access to share them:
Does anyone have photos of Renner's arms from the set of "Tag," which was shot last summer in Atlanta?"
For now, these are the best available.
The Ringer asked if hypothetically replacing Renner would've been an economical option for the movie's ballooning budget.
Maybe Warner Bros. saw a marketing opportunity. I didn't think twice about a movie about playing tag, but now that I know Jeremy Renner filmed the whole thing with two green casts on his arms, I can't stop thinking about it. Maybe Warner Bros. paid Hamm to spill about the injuries on Ellen. Maybe Ellen is involved in all of this and is getting a cut of the arm-fueled proceeds.
His injuries are all in a days work, according to the actor. According to Z103.5, he told reporters at the Karlovy Vary Film Festival press conference:
I'm sort of a problem solver, you know. There will be an effect to it, but it won't stop me from doing things that I need to be doing. I'll heal fast. I'm doing everything I can to heal faster. It won't really affect my job. It affects how I get dressed in the morning — I cannot tie my shoes. I shall heal up before 'Avengers' starts up again.
Even after sustaining an injury, nothing could prevent the dedicated actor from reaching out to touch somebody.
H/T - HuffingtonPost, Twitter, YouTube, Instagram, TheRinger