TORONTO - George Clooney charmed the pants off journalists on his first day at this year's Toronto International Film Festival.

Well, almost.

"I'd like to request that all journalists stay clothed," moderator Robert Gray said in a mock warning Friday at the start of a packed press conference for the comedy "The Men Who Stare at Goats," one of two films Clooney has at the festival.

"Good point," Clooney quipped with a grin.

The joke was made in reference to a stunt pulled at the Venice Film Festival earlier this week, when a fan stripped to his underwear and asked Clooney for a kiss at a press conference that was in support of "Goats."

At Friday's Q&A session in Toronto, the only wisecracks in the room came from Clooney -- who is also starring in the Jason Reitman comedy "Up in the Air" at the festival -- and his fellow "Goats" cast members Jeff Bridges and Ewan McGregor.

But Clooney, who fielded most of the questions from reporters, was the biggest ham of them all.

"I didn't really want to tell you the true story," Clooney, winner of a best-supporting actor Oscar for 2005's "Syriana," said when asked about his bandaged right hand.

"Ewan and I, we got in a fight and I hurt my hand punching him in the face."

Getting serious, he confirmed earlier reports that he had slammed his hand in a car door, and that he'll probably need to keep it bandaged for two more weeks.

"The Men Who Stare at Goats," directed by Grant Heslov, stars Clooney as a psychic in a secret U.S. military unit where members boast paranormal powers that allow them to move through walls, read minds and kill goats simply by staring at them.

McGregor plays a reporter who follows him on a mission to find the missing founder of the unit, played by Bridges. Kevin Spacey is also in the cast, playing one of the psychics, but wasn't at Friday's press conference.

The story is inspired by true events and based on British journalist Jon Ronson's book of the same name.

"We thought this would be a slam-dunk, right up there with 'Transformers 2,' because ... you know, any time you've got the word 'goat' in it, you just make money," joked Clooney, who co-produced the film with Heslov.

When asked if he thought this film falls in line with the other war satires he's done, Clooney said: "I have done a couple of war satire films, 'Batman and Robin' obviously being the first, but that was just wearing a rubber suit with nipples on it."

"The Men Who Stare at Goats" is set for theatrical release on Nov. 6.

The Toronto festival runs through Sept. 19.

Clooney's next project is Wes Anderson's animated tale "Fantastic Mr. Fox," in which he voices the title character. It's slated to open Nov. 25.