Getting your film screened in the White House is a coup, especially for a project with a sizable budget and outsized expectations.
Enter President Barack Obama, who will be screening the new George Clooney film The Monuments Men Tuesday night.
George Clooney, who co-wrote, directed and stars in the pic, will be attending the closed-press evening event, we’re told. The pic, based on the true story of an unlikely World War II unit that was tasked with saving priceless art from the Nazis, opened February 7 and has grossed $46M+ to date. It’s a rare case of the White House screening a movie that’s already in theaters. This is not Clooney’s first go-round with the president: He hosted a May 2012 Obama re-election fundraiser at his Studio City home that raised a then-record $15 million.
The Monuments Men, an alleged 2013 Oscar contender which got pushed ahead into the 2014 schedule, has earned middling reviews. The film has been handily beaten twice by The Lego Movie at the box office.
The White House had planned to scale down its movie screening schedule for fear of playing favorites come awards season. The Monuments Men, alas, appears to have little hope of generating Oscar buzz come Fall.
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