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Obama Date Movie Opens to Disappointing Numbers

AP
August 29, 2016

A new movie depicting the first date of Barack and Michelle Obama premiered in a modestly wide release to disappointing numbers over the weekend, earning $3 million from 813 theaters.

The Hollywood Reporter described Southside With You’s opening this past weekend as mediocre:

Southside With You, which follows a young President Barack Obama and First Lady Michelle Obama (then Michelle Robinson) on their first date in 1989 when they were young lawyers at the same Chicago firm, opened to $3 million from 813 theaters. It came in No. 14.

Overall, Southside With You’s opening is mediocre, although it did do decent business in certain cities, led by Memphis, Chicago, Atlanta, Washington, New York, and Los Angeles. (AMC’s Magic Johnson Harlem 9 was the top-grossing theater in New York City, while Cinemark’s Baldwin Hills Crenshaw Plaza was the top earner among L.A. locations.) Overall, African-Americans, whom Roadside aggressively courted, made up 60 percent of the audience.

A passion project for first-time feature director Richard Tanne, Southside stars Parker Sawyers and Tika Sumpter and was fully financed by IM Global. Miramax and Roadside Attractions partnered in picking up U.S. rights to Southside out of the Sundance Film Festival, where the film was met with critical acclaim. However, it lagged in art house theaters this weekend.

The movie was met with rave reviews, earning a 92 percent "Fresh" rating at the critic aggregator site Rotten Tomatoes. Critics swooned over the slightly altered story of the future first couple’s first date, with the consensus, "Southside With You looks back on a fateful real-life date with strong performances and engaging dialogue, adding up to a romance that makes for a pretty good date movie in its own right."