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Hollywood heavyweights Clint Eastwood, Morgan Freeman and Matt Damon look set to recreate one of the greatest days in modern South African history and one of the darkest days in New Zealand sport - the 1995 Rugby World Cup final.
Entertainment industry journal Daily Variety reported that the multi Oscar-winning director Eastwood has been linked to a film based on a book by British Journalist John Carlin, "The Human Factor: Nelson Mandela and the game that changed the world" that will see Freeman playing the former South African president.
The film focuses on events surrounding the Rugby World Cup in South Africa 12 years ago and how Mandela, who was released from prison in 1990 before becoming the country's first post-apartheid President four years later, used the tournament to bring whites and blacks together.
Matt Damon, who stars in The Bourne Ultimatum, is also reportedly in talks to line up as former Springbok captain, Francois Pienaar, who led his team to a 15-12 extra-time win over the All Blacks in the final.
But it is unclear whether behemoth winger Jonah Lomu, who became rugby's first global superstar through his bullocking try-scoring feats at the tournament, or a waitress named "Suzy", who allegedly sabotaged the All Blacks' campaign by food poisoning the squad, will feature in the film.
Lomu, who is in France with his wife Fiona, did not return calls from the Herald yesterday but his former teammate, Robin Brooke, said Samuel L. Jackson would probably do a good job in filling in for the giant winger.
Brooke, who admitted to never having watched the 1995 match since, said the game had "all the essential ingredients to make a movie" but the "proper story" in which his side was allegedly food poisoned had to be told.
"If they didn't include that I probably wouldn't go and see it," he joked.
"It [the loss] absolutely gutted me, but it was an incredible game on the world stage and probably one of the biggest occasions of my career."
"We had the emotional highs we experienced the week before against England and the absolute lows the next week, it was pretty colourful but I was absolutely peeved off at the end."
Mandela, who reportedly gave Morgan Freeman his blessings to go ahead with the project, appeared in a South Africa jersey to present the trophy to captain Pienaar after the final at Ellis Park in Johannesburg, which has become an iconic moment in the history of the country and sport.
