Principal photography has begun on Universal Pictures, Casey Silver Productions and Smoke House’s romantic comedy, Leatherheads. The film unites Academy Award® winners George Clooney and Renee Zellweger, with Clooney also directing and serving as one of the film’s writers.
Leatherheads, set against the backdrop of America’s nascent pro-football league in 1925, will shoot on locations in South Carolina and North Carolina. Joining Clooney and Zellweger in the film are John Krasinski as golden-boy Carter Rutherford; Jonathan Pryce as Rutherford’s manager, CC; and Stephen Root as the likeable, if less than objective, sports reporter Suds.
South Carolina locales include Boiling Springs, Anderson, Greenville, Ware Shoals, Greer and Travelers Rest. Among the North Carolina settings are Charlotte, Rural Haul, Spencer, Salisbury, Winston-Salem, Greensboro and Statesville.
In the film, George Clooney plays Dodge Connolly, a charming, brash football hero who is determined to guide his team from bar brawls to packed stadiums. But after the players lose their sponsor and the entire league faces certain collapse, Dodge convinces a college football star to join his ragtag ranks. The captain hopes his latest move will help the struggling sport finally capture the country’s attention.
Welcome to the team Carter Rutherford (Krasinski), America’s favorite son. A golden-boy war hero who single-handedly forced multiple German soldiers to surrender in WWI, Carter has dashing good looks and unparalleled speed on the field. This new champ is almost too good to be true, and Lexie Littleton (Zellweger) aims to prove that’s the case.
A cub journalist playing in the big leagues, Lexie is a spitfire newswoman who suspects there are holes in Carter’s war story. But while she digs, the two teammates start to become serious off-field rivals for her fickle affections.
As the new game of pro-football becomes less like the freewheeling sport he knew and loved, Dodge must both fight to keep his guys together and to get the girl of his dreams. Finding that love and football have a surprisingly similar playbook, however, he has one maneuver he will save just for the fourth quarter …
Grant Heslov (Good Night, And Good Luck., “Unscripted”) and Casey Silver (Ladder 49, Hidalgo) serve as the film’s producers. Tom Sigel (The Usual Suspects, X2: X-Men United) is the cinematographer; Jim Bissell (Confessions of a Dangerous Mind, 300) serves as the production designer. Costumes are designed by Louise Frogley ((Good Night, And Good Luck., Syriana). The editor is Stephen Mirrione (Ocean’s Twelve, Babel).
