Academy Award winner Morgan Freeman acquired the film rights to the book, and he will play a post-prison Nelson Mandela with friend Eastwood directing. The Human Factor will tell the story of how the 1995 World Cup Rugby Final between heavily-favored New Zealand and underdog South Africa helped to heal the post-Apartheid racial divide. Matt Damon, sporting blonde hair, has reportedly trained hard in order to credibly play South African captain Francois Pienaar. Some photos have begun to show up from the current production.

Eastwood is riding high from the success of his Gran Torino (Warner Bros), which has now passed $145M domestic. He’ll stay behind the camera for Factor, and it is probably where he is most comfortable these days. In a business where the average director burns out quickly after a short burst of artistic excellence (see Francis Ford Coppola), Eastwood has directed seven films since turning 70 (starring in just three – Blood Work, Million Dollar Baby and Gran Torino). In that span, he has won two Oscars, for directing and producing Million Dollar Baby, and nominated for four more, for producing and directing both Mystic River and Letters From Iwo Jima.

There is no reason to believe that Eastwood is slowing down. He directed both Changeling and Gran Torino last year, and, as a rugby fan, he jumped at the opportunity to direct The Human Factor. His movies are always top secret, so we won’t hear much about it until fall, but it’s safe to anticipate a platform release starting in early December.

Steve Mason is on Facebook and now also on Twitter.