Parker Sawyers Tapped to Play Young Barack Obama in ‘Southside With You’

Ladies and gentlemen, the President of the United States. Parker Sawyers (Oliver Stone’s upcoming Snowden) has been cast as young Barack Obama in the upcoming romantic dramedy Southside With You.

The film is a chronicle of the fateful summer day in 1989 when Obama took his then-crush Michelle Robinson (Get On Up‘s Tika Sumpter) on their first date. A sort-of origins story of the First Couple, the film follows them to various sites, including the Art Institute of Chicago, a screening of Spike Lee’s incendiary Do The Right Thing, and the ice cream shop where they shared their first smooch.

First-time director Richard Tanne will helm the project based on his screenplay, with Bob Teitel and Sumpter attached as producers. Production company IM Global is eying a 2016 release date. Shooting is slated to begin in Chicago in August.