Tag (film)

"Please tell me what's going on."
"Our group of friends has been playing the same game of tag for thirty years."
-Rebecca Crosby and Hoagie

**Tag** is an upcoming comedy film based on the true story about a group of friends who every year, for one month play an extreme game of tag.

It is directed by Jeff Tomsic and written by Rob McKittrick and Mark Steilen. It stars Ed Helms as Hogan "Hoagie Malloy, Jake Johnson as Randy "Chilli" Cilliano, Annabelle Wallis as Rebecca Crosby, Hannibal Buress as Kevin Sable, Isla Fisher as Anna Malloy, Rashida Jones as Cheryl Deakins, Leslie Bibb as Susan Rollins, with Jon Hamm as Bob Callahan, and Jeremy Renner as Jerry Pierce.

It is due for release on June 15, 2018. The film is based on a story "**It Takes Planning, Caution to Avoid Being It**" that was published in The Wall Street Journal.

## Synopsis

One month every year, five highly competitive friends hit the ground running for a no-holds-barred game of tag they’ve been playing since the first grade -- risking their necks, their jobs and their relationships to take one another down with the battle cry “**You’re It**!”. This year, the game coincides with the wedding of the only undefeated player. What should be an easy target soon becomes an all-out war as he knows they're coming to get him. Based on a true story, “**Tag**” shows how far some guys will go to be the last man standing.

## Plot

Hogan "Hoagie" Malloy, Robert "Bob" Callahan, Randy "Chilli" Cilliano, Kevin Sable and Jerry Pierce have been playing tag since 1983 during the month of May, with Jerry being the only member of the group who has not been tagged. Hoagie recruits Callahan, Chilli and Kevin for one last attempt to tag Jerry, telling them that Jerry plans to retire after this year's game because of his upcoming marriage. Rebecca Crosby, a Wall Street Journal reporter doing a piece on Callahan, joins them and decides to write an article on the friends. They are also accompanied by Hoagie's wife Anna.

Once in their hometown, they locate Jerry and make an attempt to tag him, but are quickly overwhelmed by Jerry's skill. Jerry introduces his fiancee Susan Rollins. As the others express disappointment over not being invited to the wedding despite their close relationship, Jerry knew he would almost certainly be tagged or at least targeted during the ceremonies. They agree to not play the game at any wedding-related events in exchange for invitations to the wedding. Despite this, the group makes several attempts to tag Jerry, but come up short, with one of the attempts leaving Hoagie, Chilli, and Kevin in painful traps, set by Jerry. During the rehearsal dinner, Susan reveals to the guys that she is pregnant.

Defeated, the group try to build a new plan. After finding out Jerry attends Alcoholics Anonymous meetings, the group decide to strike his next meeting, which is on his wedding day. In preparation, they lock every exit and dress up as members of AA. They make their move and almost tag Jerry, but once he finds himself trapped in the church, Jerry retreats to the communion wine storage. He stays there for hours as the guys besiege the room, until Susan comes by, with the wedding just a few hours away. Susan berates Jerry for risking their wedding for a childish game but suddenly appears to have a miscarriage. Jerry comes out to help. Chilli is convinced that it is a ruse, but the situation seems authentic, and Jerry himself also tells them he is not playing around and the two leave.

The guys receive texts that the wedding is postponed due to the potential miscarriage. However, a suspicious Anna sees that the bridesmaids all made similar Instagram posts. With one of the bridesmaids having a crush on Callahan, and also having a private profile, Anna creates a fake profile for Callahan in order to bait the bridesmaid for the truth. Once they get access, they see a post from the bridesmaid of Susan in her dress, showing that the wedding is still on schedule. Incensed by the trick, the gang decide to crash the wedding. Upon their arrival, Susan confirms the hoax, including the pregnancy. Angry at Jerry for lying, Hoagie decides to tag Jerry at the end of the ceremony after he and Susan kiss. Hoagie charges at Jerry and ends up tackling the Pastor to the ground. Hoagie then loses consciousness, which Jerry thinks is a ruse, but Anna confirms that Hoagie's condition is serious and calls for an ambulance.

Everyone meets up at the hospital where Hoagie tells them the truth: he had lied about Jerry quitting after the season because he wanted to reunite with his friends after he recently discovered a tumor on his liver; he may not be alive for the following year. Jerry chooses to swallow his pride and allows Hoagie to tag him. The group starts the game again, running around the hospital as they did as children, and change their rules so Anna and Rebecca can play as well.

Before the credits roll, a photograph is displayed, showing the real group of ten men that inspired the film, who continue to play to this day.

## Cast

* Jeremy Renner as Jerry Pierce/The Untouchable
	+ Brayden Benson as 9 year old Jerry
	+ Maxwell Ross as 18 year old Jerry
* Jon Hamm as Bob Callahan/The Boss
	+ Braxton Alexander as 9 year old Callahan
	+ Elijah Marcano as 18 year old Callahan
* Ed Helms as Hogan "Hoagie" Malloy/The Ringleader
	+ Braxton Bjerken as 9 year old Hoagie
	+ Jaren Lewison as 18 year old Hoagie
* Jake Johnson as Randy "Chilli" Cilliano
	+ Tyler Crumley as 9 year old Randy
	+ Kevin Moody as 18 year old Randy
* Hannibal Buress as Kevin Sable/The Worrier
	+ Legend Williams as 9 year old Sable
	+ Xavion Shelton as 18 year old Sable
* Isla Fisher as Anna Malloy/The Tag-Along
* Annabelle Wallis as Rebecca Crosby/The Reporter
* Rashida Jones as Cheryl Deakins
	+ Th'Yana Star as 9 year old Cheryl
	+ Kella Raines as 18 year old Cheryl
* Leslie Bibb as Susan Rollins/The Bridezilla
* Brian Dennehy as Roger Cilliano
* Nora Dunn as Linda Malloy
* Steve Berg as Lou Seibert
* Thomas Middleditch as Dave
* Carrie Brownstein as Sable's Therapist
* LilRel Howery as Reggie
* Sebastian Maniscalco as Pastor
* Kurt Yue as Doctor Yuen

## Trivia

* Will Ferrell and Jack Black were originally part of the cast.
* Jeremy Renner fractured his right elbow and left wrist on the third day of shooting. His arms were then editing with CGI for the film.
* Most of the cast have all previously worked with each other:
	+ Jeremy Renner and Jon Hamm have previously worked together on **The Town**.
	+ Jon Hamm and Isla Fisher have previously worked together on **Keeping Up with the Joneses**.
	+ Jake Johnson and Annabelle Wallis have previously worked together on **The Mummy**.
	+ Ed Helms and Rashida Jones have previously worked together on **The Office**.
* The cast of **Tag** broke the Guinness World Record for Largest Game of Freeze Tag.
* They also crashed a wedding.