President Obama’s recently revealed list of favorite movies highlights his selections from 2023, notably including films produced by his production company during this time. Among them is the adaptation of Rumaan Alam’s lauded novel Leave The World Behind, which also held a special spot among Obama’s favorite reads in the past.
This sci-fi adaptation, directed by Sam Esmail and starring Julia Roberts and Mahershala Ali, holds particular significance since it’s their fiction project from Higher Ground Productions, marking a noteworthy milestone in Obama’s foray into production.
Leave The World Behind Is One of Former US President Barack Obama’s 2023 Favorites
Capturing audiences by storm, Leave The World Behind, Netflix’s latest disaster thriller currently resides as the top film on Netflix and not surprisingly on Former US President, Barack Obama‘s list of favorites too!
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Here are some films that reflect their hard work over the last year — including some like… pic.twitter.com/TMH9LeQgsT
— Barack Obama (@BarackObama) December 27, 2023
With Julia Roberts, Mahershala Ali, and Ethan Hawke in starring roles, the movie credits Barack and Michelle Obama, as executive producers since it’s produced by Higher Ground Productions. And as evident from his list, he is proud of his work.
Sam Esmail also revealed to Collider,
“Because President Obama is such a movie lover, he really focused his notes on trying to cinematically portray what was in the book in a really interesting way. The book was on his reading list, it’s one of his favorites, and he really wanted to do justice by the book and this theme about mistrust and this being a cautionary tale about what could happen if we don’t have that community or bond that holds us together,–So he really gave notes with regards to character, empathy, and also the disaster elements. It was really across the board. And again, it was all in pursuit of making it into a good movie. That was his main focus.”
In fact, Obama was quite meticulous about getting every detail right. As a result, he proudly presents one of his own as among his favorite films in 2023!
President Obama Wanted to Get Every Detail Right!
During a Vanity Fair discussion, Sam Esmail revealed how involved the former President truly was in every process of making this movie. He claimed,
“In the original drafts of the script, I definitely pushed things a lot farther than they were in the film, and President Obama, having the experience he does have, was able to ground me a little bit on how things might unfold in reality,I am writing what I think is fiction, for the most part, I’m trying to keep it as true to life as possible, but I’m exaggerating and dramatizing. And to hear an ex-president say you’re off by a few details…I thought I was off by a lot! The fact that he said that scared the f–k out of me.”
Given his immense admiration for the book, the ex-president was fully aware of the challenge of adapting the entire story into a movie. Despite the difficulty, he ensured that each detail was handled meticulously to achieve flawless execution.
Leave the World Behind is currently streaming on Netflix.
