Eastwood's next set for Dec. 11 release

BURBANK, Calif., June 9 (UPI) -- Warner Bros. Pictures says "Invictus," Clint Eastwood's South Africa-set, big-screen drama, will open in U.S. theaters Dec. 11.

Eastwood, a four-time Oscar winner, collaborated with his "Unforgiven" and "Million Dollar Baby" star Morgan Freeman on "Invictus," a film about how former President Nelson Mandela joined forces with the captain of South Africa's rugby team to help unite their country, the studio said.

Academy Award-winning actor Freeman will play Mandela, while "Good Will Hunting" and "The Bourne Identity" star Matt Damon will play the rugby team captain.

"Newly elected President Mandela knows his nation remains racially and economically divided in the wake of apartheid. Believing he can bring his people together through the universal language of sport, Mandela rallies South Africa's underdog rugby team as they make an unlikely run to the 1995 World Cup Championship match," Warner Bros. said in a news release.

The screenplay is by native South African writer Anthony Peckham and based on the book "Playing the Enemy" by John Carlin. The movie was shot entirely on location in and around the cities of Johannesburg and Cape Town, South Africa.

Freeman, Tim Moore and Spyglass Entertainment's Gary Barber and Roger Birnbaum are serving as executive producers, Warner Bros. said.