Blake Lively was unrecognizable in her role as a grieving woman who seeks revenge in Reed Morano’s The Rhythm Section. Lively’s Bond-style film flopped really badly at the box office. During the filming of a scene in the film, Lively injured her hand, requiring surgery and shutting down the production for six months. The critics praised Lively’s performance, but her sacrifices were not enough to save the film from an embarrassing fate.
The poor marketing efforts of the film did not help its case after a thinly written plot. The film had the all-time worst opening weekend record for a film playing over 3000 screens. By the end of the second week, Lively’s film was pulled from 2955 screens.
Blake Lively Broke Her Hand While Filming Action Scenes For The Rhythm Section
Blake Lively dedicated herself to the role of Stephanie Patrick in The Rhythm Section. She was given the leading lady role after she proved herself a bankable star in The Shallows and A Simple Favor. The Gossip Girl actress was ready to get her hands dirty in the action scenes since she completely trusted Reed Morano’s filmmaking style.
However, one such scene didn’t go too well for Lively. While filming a four-minute stunt scene with co-star Jude Law, she threw a punch at Law that landed on his elbow. She severed a ligament, dislocated two bones, and broke some others. She humorously revealed on The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon that her hands basically turned into a party confetti. She shared with The Tonight Show:
“It was like a four-minute scene with me and Jude Law beating each other up. And then on my hand, I severed a ligament here, so my knuckles are kind of dropped and then I dislocated these two bones and broke some things. My hand just basically turned into party confetti. It was just like, ‘Pow’ upon contact.”
The accident happened in December 2018 and the production of the film had to be suspended for six months. This pushed back the movie’s release date to 2020. The Green Lantern actress had to undergo two surgeries on her hand and a painful physical therapy process for recovery. She told Jimmy Fallon that her hospital visit was useless since the doctor didn’t get any of the dad jokes she was trying to make about her broken hand.
Blake Lively’s Italian ‘Hand Therapist’ Helped Her In Recovery
While Blake Lively’s physical therapy was tough and painful, all she could recall was the handsome Italian physical therapist who looked like “if Zac Efron and Fabio had a baby with a Ken doll.” She revealed that while she had surgery on her hand, the therapist always talked about respiration and breathing throughout the therapy.
Her husband Ryan Reynolds was present with her during one of the physical therapy appointments. However, he fell asleep during the session and Lively shared that she felt awkward working with the handsome therapist at that time. She shared, “I just really wanted my husband because I felt weird, like something was going on even though it wasn’t.”
The film, made on a budget of $50 million, made only $6 million at the box office (via Box Office Mojo). The film marked a $40 million loss for both Paramount and EON. Interestingly, both studios were at loggerheads regarding the tone of the film. EON wanted a Euro-noir thriller, while Paramount wanted an action-packed story (via Deadline).
The Rhythm Section is now available for rent on AppleTV+.
