As Leatherheads arrives in theaters, you're going to be hearing the phrase "screwball comedy" a lot, either in the barrage of pre-opening publicity or in review after review. "Screwball comedy" implies a certain snap and rotation -- a velocity to the gags and a vector to the plot -- but the people who made Leatherheads don't quite have the strength of arm or skew of angle to make Leatherheads truly screwball; it kind of fizzles out on the way to the plate. And that's not to say Leatherheads is charmless or unenjoyable or ill-made; it just isn't quite as good as the pedigrees and passions of the people involved would have you think it will (or, frankly, should) be.

Welcome back to another edition of Insert Caption -- the game even your parents can't resist playing! Last week, we asked you to strap on your hottest piece of exercise wear in order to give us the wittiest caption for a photo from the new film Run, Fat Boy, Run. Things didn't get too physical in the comments section, and I think we all agreed that Simon Pegg was definitely NOT bringing sexy back. However, according to our winner Christina D., he might be bringing something just a tad less ... manageable.

1. "So...Bleeker. Juno got you pregnant back?" -- Christina D.

2. "Simon heard Hans' pickup line and smirked at the irony that he actually had tickets to the gun show." -- Eric W.

3. "I knew I recognized you... You were in the Olivia Newton John Video 'Physical' huh?" -- Josh B.

See full image and all captions

This week we're sticking with boys who like to get dirty and sweaty. Not boys, men! Men who like to play with balls. (I think I'll stop here.) Yes, we're here to talk about Leatherheads -- that upcoming old school football flick starring George Clooney, John Krasinski and Renée Zellweger. The three sports behind our favorite captions will walk away with one Leatherheads poster, one Leatherheads t-shirt, one Leatherheads hat and one Leatherheads calendar. Not to mention you'll score a winning touchdown with our staff. So lace up gang, and give us everything you've got! (And maybe, just maybe, we'll take the whole team out for ice cream after the game.) Sound off below ...

Read the official rules for this contest

It goes to show that sometimes the most interesting stories can come from some unlikely places. Variety reports that Renee Zellweger is in talks to star in the family 'dramedy', My One and Only. "Set in the 1950s, the comedy focuses on the glamorous Anne Deveraux (Zellweger) as she drives down the Eastern seaboard from city to city in a quixotic search for a wealthy man to fund a new life for her and her sons".

Now here is where it gets a little strange. It turns out the story is based on the childhood experiences of the perpetually tanned George Hamilton. Hamilton had told the story to TV producer Merv Griffin, who must have seen some feature film potential. If nothing else, Zellweger might be able to score an Oscar nod for playing a self-absorbed socialite mom -- just think of the histrionics she could perform on screen.

Zellweger seems to enjoy working on period pieces; and right after the 20's sports comedy Leatherheads hits theaters on April 4th, she'll most likely be heading back to the past just one more time. Charlie Peters has already produced a finished script, and Richard Loncraine has been signed to direct. Peters is a writer director, and is responsible for a few so-so family comedies including 3 Men and a Little Lady and Krippendorf's Tribe. Loncraine has a more diverse resume, and most recently was at the helm for the Harrison Ford action flick, Firewall. So the writer director-combo might look a little strange, but keep in mind, it's a strange story.

On the one hand, I can see why a film would want a few drastically different posters -- you can appeal to a wider audience and get more butts into the seats. At the same time, this technique runs the risk of alienating the people you just intrigued. You look at one poster, get all excited, then see another, and begin to wonder if you'd really be interested in it. Two posters for the upcoming sports comedy Leatherheads have been released this week. To the right, you get my favorite, which popped up yesterday over at Coming Soon. It's fun, and I love the faces George Clooney and John Krasinski are sporting. You know it's a retro sports comedy, and that you'll get some light laughs from the film's stars.

Now, over here to the left, this is the poster that popped up today on Empire. It's overly-airbrushed, and frankly, too romantically serious for the film -- at least in comparison to the last poster and the trailer that came out last month. I understand playing up the romance angle, but there's two much better ways to do this -- play up the triangle between Renee Zellweger, Clooney, and Krasinski, or use a funny image from the film -- Renee driving off and leaving George in the mud, or of the pair post-kiss with lipstick smudged everywhere. Then, you're displaying the romance without making it seem like some typical romcom.

What do you think?

As expected, Saw IV continued the franchise's tradition of tearing it up at the Halloween box office, and Dan in Real Life took second place, placating audiences looking for something milder. The only thing that kept me from a perfect score on my prediction was the fact that The Game Plan had a little more life in it than I thought, beating out Tyler Perry's Why Did I Get Married for fourth place. Ah well, whatcha gonna do. Congrats to Bubba8193 for hitting one out of the park. And now without further ado, here's last weekend's final box office numbers:

1. Saw IV: $32.1 million.
2. Dan in Real Life: $12.1 million.
3. 30 Days of Night: $6.7 million.
4. The Game Plan: $6.3 million.
5. Tyler Perry's Why Did I Get Married? $5.7 million

Looking for a new release this weekend? Well, here are your options:

American Gangster
What's It All About: Set in the 1970s, American Gangster stars Denzel Washington as a Harlem drug lord who smuggles heroin inside the bodies of U.S. soldiers killed in Vietnam, and Russel Crowe plays the maverick cop out to stop him.
Why It Might Do Well: Two high caliber stars, Ridley Scott at the helm and an 89% fresh rating over at Rottentomatoes.com suggest this one is going to pull in some serious coin.
Why It Might Not Do Well: Those of us who have recently suffered through the tedium that was We Own The Night know all too well how badly a period cop story can go wrong.
Number of Theaters: 3,000
Prediction: $31 million

Bee Movie
What's It All About: Computer animated comedy starring the voices of Jerry Seinfeld and Renee Zellweger. Seinfeld plays Barry B. Benson, an idealistic young honey bee who decides to sue the human race for stealing his people's honey.
Why It Might Do Well: Promotion for this film started a looooonng time ago, so the word is definitely out there. Even nine years after his sitcom finished up, Seinfeld is still a recognizable and highly bankable star, and I think this will be this weekend's number one movie.
Why It Might Not Do Well: Only if actual bees are released in the theater.
Number of Theaters: 3,500
Prediction: $38 million

Personally, I would've loved Jerry Seinfeld's Bee Movie to have been live action, in crazy costumes, like the spoof trailers we previously shared with you. There's nothing quite like Chris Rock and Seinfeld battling the elements on a fake windshield. That being said, I have to agree with Erik Davis -- the animated version looks pretty damned spiffy. The movie finally comes out on November 2, and Seinfeld has been making his rounds to promote the flick. The Globe and Mail has reported that just the other day, he was in Toronto for a red carpet event for the movie, and talked with the audience about the making of the film.

During the screening, he did some stand-up, chatted about families, and also about the bee crisis: "Since we started writing this four years ago, there has been a bee crisis. Have you heard of this? Colony collapse disorder. Bees have suddenly stopped working, following the exact plot line of the movie. It freaks me out. What we were writing about actually happening. I have to be more careful about what we write." Somehow, I don't think they're following the exact plot, unless there's a lawsuit I'm missing.

Bee Movie is about a bee named Barry who has just graduated from college, which is pretty redundant since he has one career choice: making honey. He leaves the hive and befriends a human named Vanessa (Renee Zellweger). While on a shopping trip with her, he discovers the world of packaged honey -- Ray Liotta's brand of honey, to be exact -- and decides to sue humans. What happens after that? Well, you'll have to see the movie.

So there's this new fish-out-of-water comedy coming our way, and funny enough, it's being directed by a Danish filmmaker. Variety has reported that Jonas Elmer (Let's Get Lost), is going to helm a new comedy called Chilled in Miami. The film, which is about a Miami businesswoman who gets transferred to the middle-of-nowhere Minnesota, will star Renee Zellweger and Harry Connick Jr. -- if negotiations continue as planned. The comedy used to be called 32 and Single, and was penned by Ken Rance and C. Jay Cox. Since the latter wrote Sweet Home Alabama, I'm sure Harry will be some sort of sexy hickster who teaches Renee about the perks of Minnesota living. Then they'll fall in love, but Renee will get called back to Miami...and then what will happen!?

I'm curious as to why Gold Circle Films tapped a Danish writer/director for a movie about a woman in Miami and Minnesota. (Or rather, Miami and Winnipeg, as that's where they'll shoot this coming January. Winnipeg in winter... Lucky Renee and Harry!) Variety says that Elmer's last comedy, Nynne, was considered the Danish Bridget Jones, but that's still a jump from Bridget Jones-like movie to Renee to American mid-west romcom. This is especially surprising since Cox is a director as well. Granted, his films haven't been that big (and his latest stars Tori Spelling), but still. It'll be interesting to see how a Dane tackles this whole thing.

Variety is reporting that Ed Harris will make his return to the director's chair with Appaloosa, a western he will star in with Viggo Mortensen and Renee Zellweger. The film starts filming in New Mexico on October 1st. This must be a real passion project for Harris, in addition to acting and directing, he's co-producing the film and co-wrote the script with Robert Knott. The story is an adaptation of Robert B. Parker's novel of the same name, and is "centered on a pair of friends hired to protect a lawless town suffering at the hands of a renegade rancher." But...wait for it..."the arrival of an attractive widow disrupts their plans." Harris will play Virgil Cole, the new marshal of the mining and ranching town of Appaloosa. Mortensen plays his deputy, Everett Hitch. Together they take on the corrupt rancher who ordered the previous marshal and deputy killed. No word on who will play the corrupt rancher, but let me suggest Rip Taylor?

This will be Harris' second time directing a feature. His first was the pretty solid Pollock, in which he directed Marcia Gay Harden to a Best Supporting Actress Oscar and himself to a Best Actor nomination. Harris and Mortensen were great together in the excellent A History of Violence, and I do love westerns, but I would be a lot more excited about this project if it weren't for Zellweger. Diane Lane originally had the role of the "attractive widow," and that's a choice I'd be much happier about. It's just a matter of taste, but Zellweger's acting drives me insane. And I particularly can't stand her in period roles -- how she won an Academy Award for her supremely annoying work in Cold Mountain, I'll never know. I still remember that scene, used in the trailer, with her bellowing that ridiculous line, something like -- "They say this war is cloudy, but then they tell us to go and stand in the rain, and then we go and stand in the rain, and then they tell us it's raining!" Her hamtastic performance still haunts my dreams. But hey, maybe this'll be different.

It must be a wonderful thing to have the kind of voice that gets you film and TV work. Getting paid handsomely to sit on your ass for a few hours is really the American dream, isn't it? There's a very entertaining piece over at theage.com about the people who dub America's biggest stars in other countries. The article shines the spotlight on these unsung heroes, who don't even get acknowledged in the credits. Claudia Motta is "Mexico's Kirsten Dunst." Any time KD graces the screen with her talents, Motta is there to translate. Motta made 10,000 pesos for playing Mary Jane in Spider-Man -- $1100 American dollars. Not too shabby for a job you can do in your sweat pants! And should Dunst ever stop making movies -- which I think might make a lot of Cinematical commenters happy -- Motta can always make money elsewhere. She's been dubbing Bart Simpson for ten years.

Francoise Cadol is "France's Angelina Jolie." She is, naturally, chummy with "France's Brad Pitt." Cadol also dubs Gong Li, Patricia Arquette, Sandra Bullock, and Mary Alice from Desperate Housewives. Italian dubber Giuppy Izzo must have an incredibly obnoxious voice -- she does both Renee Zellweger and Ellen Pompeo on Grey's Anatomy. "China's Tom Cruise" -- Ren Wei -- has also been Ewan McGregor, John Travolta, and Hugh Jackman. Daniella Hoffman -- "Germany's Julia Roberts" -- got her gig by being able to do "a good, really filthy laugh, just like Julia." These voice actors really commit to their roles. They run around the studio, lie on the floor, whatever helps them get the voice perfect. The article is full of such interesting tidbits. In China, for example, dubbing is an incredibly quick process in order to beat the bootleggers. In France, dubbing is taken very seriously -- even leading to voice stalkers. I'll bet Gilbert Gottfried doesn't have to deal with that!

Do you like being second best? I don't, but when it comes to lead in a Chris Noonan film, I'd say fine -- so be it. Renee Zellweger definitely didn't have a problem with it -- as far as we know -- since she took the lead in the well-received Miss Potter. Apparently, Zellweger was not at all Noonan's first choice for the lead; instead, it was the brilliant Cate Blanchett whom Noonan adores. Noonan even considers Blanchett to be equivalent to one of Hollywood's greatest actresses, Katherine Hepburn, whom Blanchett portrayed in The Aviator.

What was the reason for Blanchett's departure from the film? She had the role originally but was forced to give it up for an unreported reason -- but she was as reluctant to give up the role as Noonan was for letting her go. Apparently, Blanchett begged for him to postpone production, but Noonan put it perfectly when he said: "the machine won't stand still."

Even though Zellweger was runner-up for the part of Beatrix Potter, director Noonan was not disappointed in her performance or the end result of the film. Perhaps it was a happy accident for Noonan as he discovered Zellweger to be a joy to work with. The West Australian quotes Noonan describing Zellweger as humble: "She is not a star and doesn't play a star. So you lose the Renee Zellweger when she is playing Beatrix Potter and I think that is remarkable." We all know the saying: as one door closes another one opens -- and as one great actress must decline an incredible project, another remarkable actress must step in.

It seems that Renee Zellweger, the lady of quirky diaries and bunny creation seems to be quite interested in the pigskin lately. She's not doing Bridget Jones 3, or Bridget Jones Way Too Many, so she definitely has the time. In December, Erik Davis shared news that Zellweger would be joining The Office's John Krasinski in George Clooney's Leatherheads, which is a player - fiancee - coach football love triangle. Now, she is looking for a little football of the biopic variety.

According to The Guardian, Zellweger is going to play a foster mother of current pro football prospect Michael Oher -- a left tackle prominently featured in the popular book by Michael Lewis -- The Blind Side - Evolution of the Game, which the film is based on. It's one of those feel-good success stories, much more than the likes of Rudy. Oher was a large, poorly-educated African-American teen who was brought into a wealthy, white Republican family. It seems that she'll pick up the role of Leigh Anne Tuohy, the woman who, along with her husband, steers Oher into football. He got an education, and is now thought to be one of the leading pics for pro football.

What should make the movie a little more interesting than Zellweger being motherly, or yet another story about solid white folk inspiring a poor, down-trodden African-American kid is Oher himself. The Guardian ends with a story about how Oher handled once being insulted during a school match -- he picked the player up, carried him off the field and when asked, he explained that he "was going to put him back on the bus."

Odds and ends from Tuesday:

• Why do I immediately feel sorry for any actor that has to play love interest to Renée Zellweger? Is something wrong with me? Am I going to hell? Variety reports Bradley Cooper has just signed on to star opposite Zellweger in Case 39, to be directed by Christian Alvart. Cooper will play a detective who catches Zellweger's eye, as the social worker investigates a case of child abuse.
• Along with the news that she's in negotiations to star in Definitely, Maybe (alongside Martha's on-screen hero, Ryan Reynolds), Elizabeth Banks has also signed on to play a part in the Warner Bros. Christmas comedy, Joe Claus. Pic stars Vince Vaughn as Santa's moronic brother, who returns to the North Pole and almost ruins Christmas. Banks will play "a hyper-organized member of Santa's Little Helpers", as well as Vaughn's love interest.
• In an attempt to compete with folks like MySpace and YouTube, Viacom's MTV Networks has decided to buy Atom Entertainment, home to one of my favorite websites, Atom Films. According to reports, Atom's videos (which include a ton of awesome short films) will be promoted across MTV's 24 broadband web channels. While most will see this as just another large corporation's attempt to rule the internet, I view this as a great way to help short films gain more exposure. I'd be interested to see what the folks from Atom Films have to say about this? Feel free to chime in folks.

According to Variety, as soon as Renée Zellweger finishes filming Miss Potter, she'll trade the nice world of bunnies and children's fiction for a much darker, scarier one: that of social work. Ah! Run away! Oh all right, so social work isn't ALWAYS scary. In the case of Zellweger's Case 39, though, it is. Trust me. She plays a social worker, see, who does her job [insert comment about the difference between her chracter and New York City social workers here] and removes an abused girl from the home of her parents. It turns out, however, that "the parents are not the real problem." Now, if this movie wasn't being described as a "horror-thriller," I'd assume that meant that teachers, or neighbors, or other relatives were involved. In this case, though, I think it's safe to assume that the problem ain't a human one. Seriously though -- how the hell is she supposed to deal with abusive ghosts?! As if social work isn't hard enough already, now she's supposed to be protecting a kid from things that aren't there?

The movie is scheduled to start shooting in July; one hopes Paramount can track down a director by then, otherwise Renee, the kid and her ghosts are going to be doing a whole lot of waiting. (Actually, maybe that's not such a bad idea -- it could give Zellweger time to eat something.)

Monday's odds and ends:

• The Weinstein Company has acquired the rights to Miss Potter, the Renée Zellweger-starrer about Peter Rabbit creator Beatrix Potter. Due out some time next year, the movie "follows Potter's struggles to overcome a domineering, unsupportive mother and the chauvinism of Victorian England."

• In addition to people who think he's ripping off their work, Dan Brown's The Da Vinci Code has also offended The National Organization for Albinism and Hypopigmentationare. Yeah, sure Dan. You never write about an albino until you throw in one that's "hulking." They know how it is with you fully-pigmented people. According to Brown, however, Silas (the albino) is "a far more sympathetic character than anyone else in the novel." Having not read the book, I am unable to confirm or deny Brown's assertion but, since Silas is played by Paul Bettany in the movie, I can confidentially assert that at the very least, the albino is far better looking than any of the other characters.
  

• Susan Sarandon is in talks to star in a planned biopic about human-thorn-in-W's-side Cindy Sheehan. Sweet - I can't wait for wave two of the rabid articles about how out of touch Hollywood is with Mainstream America.

• New Line has bought the rights to a spec script entitled Disappearance of Trout and, even without knowing what it's about, it's hard to blame them. I mean, the whole field of movies with the names of fish in the title is WIDE open, and we all know how rare originality is in Hollywood these days. Disappointingly, the movie doesn't actually seem be about fish. Instead, it's a fantasy story about a young amusement park heir who disappears only to return 20 years later, "unaged, to help repair the lives of those once close to him and the heart of the town." Um, cool. Hell, I'd see that even if it didn't have "Trout" in the title.
  

I'm not exactly sure what led anyone to believe that there would be an audience for a movie about Beatrix Potter - the creator of Peter Rabbit - and her "struggle for independence in Victorian England," but there's one on the way, so hopes must be high. The movie, which will combine live action with animation (Perhaps she was secretly insane, and Peter Rabbit was actually a good friend?), is to be called Miss Potter, and will be directed by Chris Noonan, an Aussie who wrote and directed Babe so, if nothing else, he'll be able to handle the live/animated mix without difficulty.

Starring in the film are Renée Zellweger, who will play the author, and Ewan McGregor as publisher Norman Warne, whose death from leukemia a month after his secret engagement to Potter was a turning point in her life. Additionally, Emily Watson has recently joined the cast in an undermined role.

Slated for a 2007 release, the movie begins filming in early March.