Miramax Acquires ‘Southside with You’ Which Tells Story of the First Date Between Barack and Michelle Obama

Tika Sumpter and Parker Sawyers, portray Michelle Obama and Barack Obama in the film "Southside with You" (Photo by Miramax).

LOS ANGELES - Following last year’s successful release of MR. HOLMES, one of the year’s biggest independent films, Miramax announced today that it will reteam with Roadside Attractions on SOUTHSIDE WITH YOU, for which Miramax has acquired North American distribution rights from prolific independent entertainment studio IM Global. Miramax will partner with Roadside Attractions on domestic theatrical distribution, which will likely be set for late summer 2016.

Written by Richard Tanne, who also makes his directorial debut, the film is inspired by the first date of Barack and Michelle Obama in Chicago in 1989. Parker Sawyers (Snowden, Zero Dark Thirty) and Tika Sumpter (Ride Along 2, TV’s “The Haves and Have Nots”) star as the future President and First Lady. SOUTHSIDE WITH YOU is produced by Robert Teitel (Men of Honor, the Barbershop franchise), Tika Sumpter, and Richard Tanne. Executive Producers are Stuart Ford, Matt Jackson, Glendon Palmer, John Legend, Mike Jackson, Carrie Holt De Lama, and Tracey Bing. Legend also produced and performs the end title song for the film, “Start.”

The film recently made its festival debut at the Sundance Film Festival and drew rave reviews. Variety said, “SOUTHSIDE WITH YOU stands as something unique, even audacious in American independent movies;” The Hollywood Reporter said the film is “perceptive, intelligent;” and Entertainment Weekly called the film “charming, soulful and sweet.”

Miramax’s Rosanne Korenberg, SVP Acquisitions & Co-Productions, has led the effort to land the title for Miramax as the European Film Market/Berlinale officially got underway, with WME Global and Deborah Zipser as General Counsel on behalf of IM Global brokering the deal. IM Global has been in protracted negotiations with U.S. distributors for the past few weeks since SOUTHSIDE WITH YOU’s successful Sundance debut.

Miramax’s Zanne Devine, EVP Film & Television, said: “The timelessness of initial romance is beautifully captured in Richard Tanne’s tender and poetic directorial debut.”