Planning ahead is one of the things we do best around here, because we have to have plenty of time to get USA WEEKEND to more than 600 newspapers. So our movies editor Craigh Barboza had our upcoming holiday preview package nearly done when he got word that George Clooney's Leatherheads, originally scheduled in that pre-Oscar holiday time, would be back-burnered until April. Craigh had to quickly re-edit and re-jigger the package you'll see on Oct. 28, but we didn't want him to leave this George tidbit on the cutting room floor.  George is a notorious practical joker who managed to pull a good one on his Leatherheads cast. The tale is being told by producer Grant Heslov. The movie is about old-school football:

"[Clooney] told members of the team, who had recently completed a two-week stint filming a game in muddy slop, that he had missed a shot. Back went the players into uniform, back into a kiddie pool where they covered themselves head-to-toe with mud, back in front of the camera where director Clooney put them through ridiculous gyrations. 'Eventually they realized it was a joke,' says producer Grant Heslov. 'They got back at us. They came over and gave us hugs.'"

(photo by Melinda Sue Gordon/Universal Pictures)