Oscar-winning actor Morgan Freeman will play former South African president Nelson Mandela in a movie about the anti-apartheid hero.

The film, to be called The Human Factor, will begin production in 2008, Freeman and his film production company, Revelations Entertainment, announced Friday.

Morgan Freeman will play Nelson Mandela and his production company will back the film.Morgan Freeman will play Nelson Mandela and his production company will back the film.
(Canadian Press)

It will be based on the book The Human Factor: Nelson Mandela and the Game that Changed the World by journalist and author John Carlin, which examines his private and public life in the first year of his presidency.

"I have known Nelson Mandela personally for quite some time, and am continually in awe of his enormous presence in the world. The opportunity to portray him in this film is a great honour," Freeman said in a statement.

Freeman has starred in films such as Driving Miss Daisy, Million Dollar Baby and Amistad.

Mandela, 88, won a Nobel Peace Prize in 1993 for his policy of reconciliation, created during his early years as South African president, when the country was struggling to heal the scars of apartheid.

Mandela was jailed for 27 years by the former white-ruled government of South Africa.