George Clooney will direct and star in Leatherheads, a romantic comedy that chronicles the beginnings of professional football in the 1920s. Renée Zellweger is in talks to co-star in the film, which has taken a long and winding road to the green light — at one point, the Universal flick was reportedly due to be Clooney and Steven Soderbergh’s next film after 1998’s Out of Sight. (Daily Variety, 9/18)