Obama Movie ‘Southside With You’ Sells to Roadside Attractions and Miramax
Roadside Attractions and Miramax are closing in on a deal to acquire North American rights for the Obama movie “Southside With You,” Variety has confirmed.
The film, which premiered at the Sundance Film Festival on Jan. 24, re-imagines the 1989 first date between Barack and Michelle Obama. “Southside With You” was directed by Richard Tanne and stars Parker Sawyers and Tika Sumpter as the future president and first lady of the United States.
The deal was valued at around $2 million. Other distributors–including the Weinstein Company—had also circled the project, which will receive a theatrical release later this year.
“Southside With You” opened at Sundance following this year’s #OscarSoWhite controversy, which highlighted just how few films Hollywood makes with African American actors. The festival in Park City has always prided itself on showcasing diverse voices, and this year was no different. “The Birth of a Nation,” Nate Parker’s take about the 1831 slave revolt led by Nat Turner, sold to Fox Searchlight for $17.5 million; and “Morris From America,” about an African American teenager living in Germany, which went to A24.
WME and IM Global repped the deal for “Southside With You.”
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