'Mandela: Long Walk to Freedom' TRAILER: Idris Elba Stars as South African Icon in November 29 Release Date
The first trailer for Mandela: Long Walk to Freedom premiered Friday, featuring Idris Elba as civil rights activist Nelson Mandela.
The trailer begins with the words, "It takes one man to change the world," flashing before a wide shot of Elba as Mandela walking down a pathway in an open field with a group of kids. While the shot continuously pans around the open field, Elba speaks in voiceover.
"I have walked a long walk to freedom. It has been a long road, and it's not over yet. No one is born hating another person because of the color of his skin. People learn to hate. They can be taught to love, for love comes more naturally to the human heart," she says.
Mandela: Long Walk to Freedom is based on Mandela's 1994 autobiography Long Walk to Freedom, which chronicles his entire life, including his 27-year imprisonment and his eventual rise to becoming South Africa's first Democratic president.
Watch the trailer here:
Elba, who is also starring in the upcoming blockbuster Pacific Rim, told Reuters Wednesday that the most important thing to take from Mandela: Long Walk to Freedom is that, "[Mandela is] a man. He's a human being. I think we forget that, that he is human."
The film, directed by Justin Chadwick (The Other Boleyn Girl) is one of the first major film releases to chronicle Mandela's life. Morgan Freeman played the South African leader in the 2009 film Invictus, but that film only covered a specific time period in the 1990s when he was the president. Freeman was nominated for an Academy Award for the performance.
Mandela: Long Walk to Freedom is not the only film coming out in 2013 to feature Mandela. There is also a biopic of his wife Winnie, appropriately called Winnie, coming out on Sept. 6. Terrence Howard will be playing the leader and Jennifer Hudson will be playing Winnie.
Mandela: Long Walk to Freedom is set to be released in theaters nationwide on Nov. 29.
