Invictus (film)
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| Invictus | |
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| Directed by | Clint Eastwood |
| Produced by | Clint Eastwood Lori McCreary Robert Lorenz Mace Neufeld |
| Written by | Screenplay: Anthony Peckham Book: John Carlin |
| Starring | Morgan Freeman Matt Damon |
| Cinematography | Tom Stern |
| Editing by | Joel Cox Gary D. Roach |
| Studio | Spyglass Entertainment Revelations Entertainment Malpaso Productions |
| Distributed by | Warner Bros. Pictures |
| Release date(s) | December 11, 2009 |
| Country | United States |
| Language | English |
| Budget | $50 million [1] |
Invictus 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.[2] 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.
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[edit] Plot
Invictus is a look at Nelson Mandela (Morgan Freeman) from the fall of apartheid. 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.
[edit] Production
The film is based on the book Playing The Enemy: Nelson Mandela And The Game That Changed a Nation by John Carlin.[3] The filmmakers met with Carlin for a week in his Barcelona home, discussing how to transform the book into a screenplay.[4] Morgan Freeman was the first actor to be cast, as Mandela. Matt Damon was then cast as Francois Pienaar.[5] 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.[6] 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).[7] Over Christmas 2008 auditions had taken place in London to try to 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.[8] 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.[9] Primary filming in South Africa was completed in May 2009.[4] Grant Roberts was cast as Ruben Kruger, who was the Springboks' other starting flanker in 1995.
[edit] Cast
- Matt Damon as Francois Pienaar
- Morgan Freeman as Nelson Mandela
- Scott Eastwood as Joel Stransky
- Zak Feaunati as Jonah Lomu
- Grant L. Roberts as Ruben Kruger
- Rolf E. Fitschen as Naka Drotske
- Vaughn Thompson as Rudolph Straeuli
- Charl Engelbrecht as Garry Pagel
- Graham Lindemann as Kobus Wiese
- Julian Lewis Jones as Nelson Mandela's head bodyguard[10]
[edit] See also
[edit] References
- ^ Thompson On Hollywood on Variety.com
- ^ Stephensen, Hunter (March 14, 2009). "First Look: Clint Eastwood's The Human Factor with Matt Damon". Slash Film. http://www.slashfilm.com/2009/03/14/first-look-clint-eastwoods-the-human-factor-with-matt-damon/. Retrieved 2009-03-31.
- ^ Leyes, Nick (March 15, 2009). "Matt Damon takes rugby union to Hollywood. Somanth as Matt Damon's brother". Daily Telegraph. http://www.news.com.au/dailytelegraph/story/0,22049,25187212-5006010,00.html. Retrieved 2009-03-31.
- ^ a b Interview with Carlin, BBC Radio 5, May 21, 2009
- ^ Rappe, Elisabeth (March 16, 2009). "Matt Damon Goes Blond For 'The Human Factor'". Cinematical.com. http://www.cinematical.com/2009/03/16/matt-damon-goes-blond-for-the-human-factor/. Retrieved 2009-03-31.
- ^ "Matt Damon injured at rugby training". The Times (South Africa). March 8, 2009. http://www.thetimes.co.za/PrintEdition/Article.aspx?id=954297. Retrieved 2009-03-31.
- ^ White, James (March 18, 2009). "Scott Eastwood joins the Nelson Mandela pic: Clint casts his son…". TotalFilm.com. http://www.totalfilm.com/news/scott-eastwood-joins-the-nelson-mandela-pic. Retrieved 2009-03-31.
- ^ Jones, Alice-Azania (March 16, 2009). "Pandora: An accent beyond the best of British". The Independent. http://www.independent.co.uk/news/people/pandora/pandora-an-accent-beyond--the-best-of-british-1645743.html. Retrieved 2009-03-31.
- ^ (March 25, 2009). Zak Feaunati to play Jonah Lomu in film, BBC News. Retrieved on 2009-05-06.
- ^ Turner, Robin (March 22, 2009) "Life on the set with Clint Eastwood, by Welsh actor", Wales on Sunday. Retrieved on 2009-05-06.
[edit] External links
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