This summer, Idris Elba will be canceling the apocalypse in Guillermo del Toro's Pacific Rim and he could be wrapping up 2013 with some awards buzz.

Elba stars as a young Nelson Mandela in The Weinstein Company's Mandela: Long Walk to Freedom. The film is based on the former South African president's autobiography about his early life, coming of age, education and 27 years in prison before becoming President and working to rebuild his country' once segregated society.

We know Elba has the acting chops and screen presence to pull off an iconic person like Mr. Mandela and the proof will be in the forthcoming clips and trailers over the next few months.

Directed by The Other Boleyn Girl's Justin Chadwick, Long Walk to Freedom arrives in theaters November 29.

What do you think of this first look poster of Elba as Mandela?

 

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