Mandela: Long Walk To Freedom first teaser trailer

First the poster showed what Idris Elba will look like as Nelson Mandela, and now the moving teaser trailer for the forthcoming biopic has debuted what he will sound like.

The star of 'Luther', 'The Wire' and Guillermo Del Toro's 'Pacific Rim' will be flipping expectations to play the South African leader in 'Mandela: Long Walk To Freedom'.

And judging by this, his appropriation of Mr Mandela's distinctive accent and style of speech is pretty impressive.

[First poster of Idris Elba as Nelson Mandela]

Though we don't see Elba's physical transformation close up, we see him climbing a (literal and doubtless metaphorical) hill with the younger generation of South Africans running ahead of him.

In the US, the film is being released in November, just in time for consideration a certain annual awards ceremony that happens in the New Year.

We won't get to see it in the UK until January, however.

[Idris Elba addresses James Bond rumours]

Alongside Elba will be fellow British actor Naomie Harris playing Mandela's wife Winnie, along with Tony Kgoroge, Riaad Moosa, Zolani Mkiva and Jamie Bartlett.

It's directed by Justin Chadwick, who helmed 'The Other Boelyn Girl'.

Meanwhile, Mandela himself remains in hospital for the moment, in a critical but stable condition.

He has been in hospital for five weeks for a recurring lung infection which has seen him admitted four times in the last six months.