Has the Oscar race begun with the first poster for Idris Elba's 'Mandela: Long Walk to Freedom'?

Many expect that Idris Elba will be an Oscar winner some day, but is that time now? This is certainly shaping up to be the most important year of his career, as he's starring in two movies that appeal to broadly different audiences. The Comic-Con crowd is proper amped over Guillermo Del Toro's giant robot flick, Pacific Rim, in which Elba plays the leader of the human resistance. But perhaps most crucially, Elba could be vying for gold as a leader of an entirely different sort in Mandela: Long Walk to Freedom, in which he stars as the South African civil rights leader, Nelson Mandela.

During the Weinstein Company's Cannes sizzle reel yesterday, the film was revealed as part of their expected 2013 slate. Along with it came the first poster, with a tagline that suggests this story won't be following the stately politician we've come to know in recent years, but the fiery activist and freedom fighter from his youth. Directed by Justin Chadwick (The First Grader) from a script by William Nicholson (Les Miserables), the story focuses on the early years in Mandela's life, his education, rise to prominence, and 27-year imprisonment.

Obviously, playing an international icon such as Mandela will be a feather in Elba's cap, but let's not forget the indifference shown towards Invictus, and that boasted the talents of Morgan Freeman and Matt Damon.  Mandela: Long Walk to Freedom opens on November 29th.