Mandela film breaks box office records in SA

Idris Elba as Nelson Mandela and Naomie Harris as Winnie Mandela in a scene from Mandela: Long walk to Freedom.

A movie depicting the life of Nelson Mandela has become South Africa's highest grossing picture after its opening last week, its producers said.

The film, Long Walk to Freedom, has already earned US$427,000 (Rand 4.4 million), according to Videovision Entertainment.

The movie stars British actor Idris Elba as Mandela, the liberation struggle icon who died today at the age of 95.

It's based on his autobiography with the same title.

The British-South African co-production opened just over a week ago in South Africa, followed by a limited engagement in New York and Los Angeles.

"I visited a few cinemas over the weekend and experienced the emotional response to the film with audiences leaving the cinemas completely satisfied," said producer Anant Singh.

"For me as a filmmaker, this is really fulfilling."

The movie traces Mandela's life from his childhood in a remote rural part of South Africa, through his years struggling against apartheid, to his 27 years imprisonment and his election as the country's first black president in 1994.

- AP