There are a select few women and men who have changed the course of a nation for the better, while also rocking the world and inspiring the masses. Former South African president and freedom fighter Nelson Mandela certainly falls into that category, so a new biopic on the life and times of the international icon is only fitting.

Although reports of such a film starring the talented Idris Elba have bounced around the blogs for months now, Elba himself has finally confirmed that a Nelson Mandela project is indeed in the works and that it will begin production in the coming months. Not much else is known about the project. However, the source of the film's story will be A Long Walk from Freedom, Mandela's best-selling autobiography which chronicles his life from childhood to his 27 year prison sentence. Hollywood seems to have Mandela on the mind, and rightly so, because a 6 part television miniseries entitled "Madiba" is also in the works.

Mandela is one of many Black icons whose inspirational life has been highly publicized and covered, and, by default, distorted. A film that revealed a complex look at his life both in and out of the history books would be a breath of fresh air, yet some seem skeptical of Elba playing a convincing Mandela. Is Elba the right leading man for this role, or is there another actor better suited for the part? How will this film vary from the other Mandela biopics out there already?