Eastwood’s Mandela Film Gets Release Date, New Crappy Name

Posted by Dr. Cole Abaius (cole.abaius@filmschoolrejects.com) on June 5, 2009

invictusmandela

It’s been almost a year and a half since it was first reported that Morgan Freeman was developing a biopic of Nelson Mandela, and in that time the world has changed quite dramatically. The project, with the working title The Human Factor has been filming this spring, and now they have a release date.

The newly named Invictus will go head to head with Peter Jackson’s The Lovely Bones on December 11th – which also vindicates my creating Oscar buzz for the movie before it was even in production. Eastwood pairing with Freeman to create the story of such an important historical figure seems like it could print its own Oscar ballots, and that late-December release date definitely backs that theory up. Hopefully we’re in for a fantastic film.

I realize that The Human Factor sounds a bit generic as a title, but I can’t even begin to wrap my mind around Invictus. It’s the Latin word for “Invincible,” which, yes, means that the Nelson Mandela film shares the name with a Marky Mark Wahlberg movie (and a Werner Herzog flick, if you’re counting).

No word yet on whether the story will follow Mandela trying out for the Philadelphia Eagles.

What do you think?


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  • terrible. They should just stick with "MANDELA."
  • word is that Invictus is the name of poem Mandela quotes or quoted frequently during the timeframe the movie will focus on.

    should be good, but didn't Freeman have some accident awhile back? I thought it was pretty serious, I'm surprised he's back so quickly.
  • word is that Invictus is the name of a poem Mandela quotes or quoted frequently during the timeframe the movie will focus on.

    should be good, but didn't Freeman have some accident awhile back? I thought it was pretty serious, I'm surprised he's back so quickly.
  • That makes some sense. i imagine it would have to be the Henley poem - it talks about being the master of your own fate, master of your own soul. All pretty relevant things I would assume.
  • Invictus may not be catchy but it is better than 'Nelson' or 'Mandela'.
  • i disagree. Most people probably won;t even realize that this is a biopic if their name is not attached. I think it's important someone's name should be attached if you're making a movie about them!

    GANDHI, CHE, MALCOLM X, IRIS, anyone?
  • The problem is that sometimes studios try to out-think themselves. If its a biopic, it ought to be titled at least in a semi-readable title. Invictus sounds like a bad watch brand (no disrespect to Invicta brand per se). All that money spent on a movie and this sort of title? Studios might want to start test-titling movies too.
    The Rake
    http://thefilmnest.com
  • Yeah but it's also generic as all hell. I would hope the marketing could make it obvious who its about and also that its worth an audiences time. The title sometimes just seems lazy. Give me 'Walk the Line' over 'Ray' any day.
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