A movie about an eventful night in 1989 will tell the story about young associate Barack Obama’s courtship to lawyer Michelle Robinson. The two went on a date to the Art Institute of Chicago to watch Spike Lee’s “Do the Right Thing,” and later shared their first kiss over ice cream. Obama was a student at the time and worked at law firm Sidley Austin, where Michelle was his boss. The film titled “Southside With You” sounds like it could be a romantic comedy similar to Richard Linklater’s “Before Sunrise” since it will narrate the details of the night that started it all.
Casting director Tracy "Twinkie" Byrd has picked the two leads who will interpret the President and First Lady. Tike Sumpter, the star of “Get On Up” will play a young Michelle Obama and Parker Sawyers has been cast to play a young Barack Obama. You can find Sawyers in the upcoming “Snowden” as well as in “The Autopsy of Jane Doe.” The rest of the cast remains to be announced.
The project was written and will be directed by Richard Tanne (“Worst Friends”), and produced by Bob Teitel. Executive producing credits will be shared among IM Global's Stuart Ford, Matt Jackson, Glendon Palmer and Tracy Bing. The film is of course expected to be filmed in Chicago starting this coming August.
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