Jeremy Renner had a freak accident during the filming of upcoming comedy movie Tag, resulting in him breaking both his arms, co-star Jon Hamm recalled. Directed by Jeff Tomsic, and co-written by Mark Steilen (Mozart in the Jungle) and Waiting director Rob Mckittrick, the film is loosely based on a Wall Street Journal story from 2013, involving 10 friends who continuously played the game of Tag for more than two decades. The summer offering from New Line Cinema features a star-studded cast of characters including Ed Helms, Hannibal Buress, Jake Johnson, Isla Fisher, Rashida Jones, and Leslie Bibb, joining Renner and Hamm.

Last year, news broke out that Renner was hurt on the set of Avengers: Infinity War (fans now know that’s not the case given that the Hawkeye sat that one out) which didn’t surprise a lot of people considering the film’s genre. However, when the reports surfaced that the actor was actually injured on the set of the comedy flick Tag, many were immediately curious as to what happened. Now, Hamm sheds a bit of light on what went down and how serious the injury was for his co-star.

Dropping by at Ellen (via Express UK) to talk about Tag, Hamm horrifyingly recalled how Renner broke both his arms at the start of the film’s production. The Mad Men alum didn’t go into specifics how it happened as he wasn’t around when the accident took place, nonetheless, the thought of an action star like Renner will be injured like that on the set of a comedy film sounds traumatizing. Here’s what Hamm said:

When asked if they halted principal photography to allow Renner to heal both his arms considering that he seems to be a pivotal character in the film, Hamm surprisingly said no. Apparently, what Renner did was wear a “green screen cast” for the rest of the production, which allowed editors and VFX artists to paint his arms during post-production which sounded really tedious. That said, the finished project looks flawless, with no hints showing of a CGId arm for Renner - at least based on the released previews. Fans would have to see the whole film to know if the computer graphics are noticeable or not.

“Jeremy Renner… broke both of his arms on the same time. Day three of production. We had 40 more days to go. Keep in mind this is a man 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.”

It’s interesting how Renner filmed Infinity War and Avengers 4 following his accident on the set of Tag. Based on Hamm’s comments, the mishap took place around June 2017 which was in the middle of the year-long production for the twin Avengers sequel. Considering that Renner broke both of his arms, it’s possible that it would’ve been taken a bit time to fully heal them for him to be allowed doing his own stunts, especially since Hawkeye’s primary skills set involves archery. By August, the actor was known to be back on the set of the Marvel movies thanks to his own social media post although his arms weren’t visible in his upload. But three months after the incident in October, Renner seemed to have already fully recuperated as set photos show him walking to the set of Avengers 4 carrying his own backpack.

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Source: Ellen (via Express UK)

  • Tag Release Date: 2018-06-15