Unsurprisingly, the story of the first African-American President, who had a ton of celebrity campaign donors, is drawing a lot of attention from Hollywood. Sundance saw the premiere of Southside with You, which told the stoy of Barack and Michelle Obama's first date (review here), and that will be coming out later this year. Now another fiilm about a young Barack is in the works, once again casting a fresh newcomer to play the POTUS.
Devon Terrell has been cast as young Barack Obama in Barry, and he'll be joined by The Witch breakout Anya Taylor-Joy in another key role. Vice correspondent Vikram Gandhi directs the film which centers on Obama's time in New York as a student at Columbia College, forging the relationships that would shape his ideals. The screenplay was written by Adam Mansbach, best known for his profane children's book "Go the F**k to Sleep", which became a viral hit due to Samuel L. Jackson's reading of it.
This is easily the biggest role of Terrell's career, as his only major credit is Steve McQueen's shelved HBO series, Codes of Conduct. Taylor-Joy has made the most out of The Witch's success, scoring a role in M. Night Shyamalan's next film opposite James McAvoy. [THR]
