"Leatherheads" Stars Go Remote To Promote

(AP)  Actors George Clooney and Renee Zellweger kicked off a whistle-stop tour in Duluth, Minn., to promote their upcoming football comedy "Leatherheads."

Although the movie was filmed in the Carolinas and not Duluth, Clooney says they wanted to pay tribute to Duluth for serving as the setting for "Leatherheads."

At a news conference he explained, with some understatement, why the film wasn't shot in northeastern Minnesota. He says he understands that in Duluth "it's cold in February."

---

Photos: "Leatherheads" On Tour

---

Clooney plays an aging player on the Duluth Bulldogs football team in 1925 while Zellweger plays a feisty Chicago newspaper reporter. The movie was inspired by the old Duluth Eskimos of the 1920s.

Clooney says he studied old screwball comedies like "The Front Page" to adopt their style to his new film.

"Leatherheads" opens April 4.