Invictus (also known as The Human Factor) is an upcoming 2009 feature film based on Nelson Mandela’s life during the 1995 Rugby World Cup in South Africa. Directed by Clint Eastwood, the film stars Morgan Freeman as the then South African President Mandela, and Matt Damon as Francois Pienaar, the South African team captain^. The story is based on the John Carlin book Playing the Enemy: Nelson Mandela and the Game That Changed a Nation. The film is due for release on December 11, 2009, and is already considered a “front-runner” for several Academy Awards.

See a trailer: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=E9Ovkye6lac&feature=related

The story is about Mandela’s release from prison, his election as President of South Africa and his attempts to use the 1995 Rugby World Cup as a vehicle to bring his people together, after the fall of apartheid. Led by their captain Francois Pienaar (Matt Damon), the South African team wins the tournament, upsetting the favourites New Zealand 15–12 in the final.

The film is based on the book Playing The Enemy: Nelson Mandela And The Game That Changed a Nation by John Carlin.^[6] The filmmakers met with Carlin for a week in his Barcelona home, discussing how to transform the book into a screenplay.^[7] Morgan Freeman was the first actor to be cast, as Mandela. Matt Damon was then cast as Francois Pienaar.^[8] He was given intensive coaching by Chester Williams, another star of the 1995 team, at the Gardens Rugby Club. Filming began in March 2009 in Cape Town. “In terms of stature and stars, this certainly is one of the biggest films ever to be made in South Africa,” said Laurence Mitchell, the head of the Cape Film Commission.^[9] On March 18, 2009, Scott Eastwood was cast in an unspecified role, but it is understood to be flyhalf Joel Stransky (whose drop goal provided the Springboks’ winning margin in the 1995 final).^[10] Over Christmas 2008 auditions had taken place in London to try and find a well-known British actor to play Pienaar’s father, but in March it was decided to cast a lesser-known South African actor instead.^[11] The ex Bath Rugby player Zak Feaunati, who now is head of Rugby at Bishop Vesey’s Grammar school in Sutton Coldfield, has been cast as New Zealand player Jonah Lomu.^[12] Primary filming in South Africa was completed in May 2009.^[7] Grant Roberts was cast as Ruben Kruger, who was the Springboks’ other starting flanker in 1995. The film is scheduled to have the 1984 Warner Bros. logo (which is actually the Flags of Our Fathers variation) instead of the current logo.

Source: Wikipedia