If ever there was a movie that looked like it was a shoo-in for loads of Oscar gushing, it has to be Clint Eastwood directing a movie about Nelson Mandela, the end of apartheid and how a rugby match united a country. They might as well just hand out the nominations now.
While Clint's flick has been known by various names, including The Human Factor and Playing the Enemy, it now been announced that the official title will be Invictus, named after one of Mandela's favourites poems, which was written by Victorian poet, William Ernest Henley.
The movie is based on the book 'Playing The Enemy: Nelson Mandela And The Game That Made A Nation' and will star Morgan Freeman as the South African president and Matt Damon as rugby captain Francois Pienaar. It will mainly concern events at the 1995 Rugby World Cup, which many credit with helping to unite South Africa after the end of apartheid.
The movie will be released in the US on December 11th, which is in prime Oscar-baiting season and the same day as Peter Jackson's The Lovely Bones and Disney's The Princess And The Frog, so it's definitely going to be a busy weekend. If rumours are to be believed the movie will be out in the UK next February, just in time for us to see whether Morgan Freeman picks up an Oscar for playing Mandela (let's face it, he wouldn't need any lines and he'll still get nominated).