A young Barack Obama will be portrayed in "Barry," a movie that was just purchased by Netflix.
Netflix purchased the worldwide rights to the film after it premiered at the Toronto International Film Festival last week. Deadline reports that "several distributors" pursued the film, and that Netflix got the edge with an early bid of approximately $4.5 million. The final selling price is unknown.
The movie is set in New York City, and shows a 20-year-old, Columbia University-attending Obama "faced with questions about race, culture, and identity," according to Variety.
The film is directed by Vikram Gandhi (of the documentary Kumaré), and according to early reviews, has a strong performance by actor Devon Terrell as the future POTUS. Jason Mitchell (Eazy-E in Straight Outta Compton), Ellar Coltrane (Boyhood), Ashley Judd, Avi Nash and Jenna Elfman help round out the cast. A 100 percent rating on Rotten Tomatoes doesn't hurt, either; only ten critics so far, but a strong start.
Barry is the second movie this year to portray a young Obama. Southside With You, which costars Parker Sawyers and Tika Sumpter, tells the story of Barack and Michelle Obama's first date in 1989. Barack was a law firm associate, and Michelle was a lawyer.
Netflix has not given a release date for Barry yet, but Okayplayer will provide further updates.
