Freeman attended the première on Tuesday night, 8 December 2009, along with international representatives from Warner Bros Pictures, local film stars and celebrities including the 1995 World Cup SA rugby team.
Commenting on the release of the film, Terry Tselane, CEO of the Gauteng Film Commission says, “We're increasingly finding that Gauteng and South Africa are attracting global shoots, due to our versatile locations and outstanding production skills and crew. Invictus is yet another excellent showcase for our stories, talents and locations. To have international heavyweights such as Eastwood, Freeman and Damon working with leading South African talent is a ringing endorsement of our province.”
In the film, Freeman portrays Nelson Mandela in the inspiring true story of how the newly elected South African president joined forces with Bok captain Francois Pienaar (played by Matt Damon) to help unite their country. In the wake of apartheid, President Mandela knows his nation remains racially and economically divided. Believing he can bring his people together through the universal language of sport, Mandela rallies behind the South Africa's underdog rugby team as they make an unlikely run to the 1995 World Cup Championship match.
The Associated Press has awarded Invictus three stars out of four and the influential US publication, Variety, says, “Every scene brims with surprising details that accumulate into a rich fabric of history, cultural impressions and emotion.” (Todd McCarthy, Variety, 27 November 2009). He added that this growing international recognition and acceptance is undoubtedly having a positive impact on the South African film industry and local economy.
A Warner Bros Pictures presentation, in association with Spyglass Entertainment, the film was produced by Eastwood; Lori McCreary, under her and Freeman's Revelations Entertainment banner; Eastwood's long-time production partner Robert Lorenz, for Malpaso Productions; and Mace Neufeld. The screenplay is by native South African writer Anthony Peckham, based on the John Carlin book Playing the Enemy: Nelson Mandela and the Game That Made a Nation. Freeman, Tim Moore, and Spyglass Entertainment's Gary Barber and Roger Birnbaum are executive producers.
Location filming took place in Gauteng and the Western Cape earlier this year. The film releases in South Africa (Nu Metro) and the US on Friday 11 December 2009.
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