*Netflix has purchased worldwide rights to “Barry,” the New York City-set drama about college-age Barack Obama faced with questions about race, culture, and identity.
The pickup comes a week after “Barry” premiered in the Special Presentations section of the Toronto International Film Festival, reports Deadline.com.
As previously reported, Devon Terrell and Anya Taylor-Joy were cast as the leads in “Barry” in March. Vikram Gandhi directed from a screenplay penned by novelist Adam Mansbach, who wrote “Go the F**k to Sleep.”
Variety‘s Owen Glieberman said in his review, “Set in 1981, when Obama was a 20-year-old college student who moved to New York to transfer to Columbia University, the film is rooted in the murky, drifting, sleep-late-and-get-stoned-and-do-whatever nature of college life that the movies almost never get right. This one does, and that’s one reason it feels bracingly authentic.”
“Barry” began production a month after another Obama movie, “Southside With You,” premiered at the Sundance Film Festival. Roadside Attractions and Miramax teamed to purchase U.S. rights to “Southside,” which re-creates the 1989 first date between Michelle and Barack Obama. That film has grossed $6.1 million in three weeks with a peak of 897 theaters.
“Barry” is a joint production between Black Bear Pictures and Cinetic Media, produced by Cinetic’s Dana O’Keefe and Black Bear’s Teddy Schwarzman and Ben Stillman. It is the first production for Jon Sloss’ Cinetic.
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