President Barack Obama’s approval rating hit 38 percent this fall and currently hovers in the very low 40s.
Presumably, then, upwards of 124 million (out of 308 million total) Americans are totally clamoring to see a movie about the first date experienced by Obama and his wife, first lady Michelle Obama.
That movie, a serious drama titled “Southside With You,” is slated to begin shooting on location in Chicago in July.
The Daily Caller is not making this up.
“Southside With You” will recount a single afternoon in the life of young Barack Obama, then a Harvard Law student, and Michelle Robinson, his boss at the fancypants Chicago law firm of Sidley Austin, reports Deadline Hollywood.
The excellent adventure for the young couple took place on a day off in 1989 after Barack convinced Michelle to go on a date with him.
The pair first visited the Art Institute (which is on Chicago’s South Side by maybe 150 yards, but never mind). Then, they took a long stroll. Next, they watched “Do The Right Thing,” Spike Lee’s movie about a guy named Mookie who smashes the window of Sal’s Pizzeria with a trash can, inciting a mob to burn the restaurant down. The mob then heads over to a nearby Korean grocer and nearly destroys it as well.
Obama remembers the summer day fondly.
“I took her to this new movie that everybody was talking about, directed by a guy that not that many people had heard of, but it was supposed to be pretty good,” he said during a 25th anniversary commemoration for “Do The Right Thing” this summer, according to Deadline.
A Baskin-Robbins in Hyde Park, the Chicago neighborhood where the University of Chicago is located, was the site of the first couple’s first kiss. In 2012, Chicago’s city fathers installed a plaque at the curb where the tongue dance occurred.
The writer of “Southside With You” is Richard Tanne. He will also direct. Tracey Bing, a former Warner Independent executive, and “Hustle & Flow” producer Stephanie Allain are set to produce under the banner of Allain’s Homegrown Pictures.
Tika Sumpter — who, like Michelle Obama, loves “to eat” — will play the young first lady.
The producers are still mulling their choice of the actor who will play Barack Obama as a law student. Obviously, though, Jordan Peele has to be the odds-on favorite.
“Stephanie and I are excited to produce this smart and timeless film that sheds light on one of the great love stories of our time,” Bing said, according to Deadline. “Richard really captures the essence of that romantic connection between Barack and Michelle that is so evident in the way that they look at each other. We are looking forward to finding the perfect Barack.”
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