Two weeks after its highly anticipated premiere at the Cannes Film Festival, a film about Donald Trump in the 1980s has still not been released in the United States.
In Cannes, The Apprentice unveiled a scathing portrait of the former American president when he was young. The film, which stars Sebastian Stan, charts Mr. Trump’s rise to prominence in New York real estate, under the tutelage of Roy Cohn (Jeremy Strong), the defense attorney who served as chief adviser by Joseph McCarthy during the 1950s Senate investigations into people suspected of communism.
The Apprentice, directed by Iranian-Danish filmmaker Ali Abbasi, immediately sparked controversy. After the premiere, Mr. Trump’s re-election campaign spokesman Steven Cheung called the film “pure fiction” and announced that Mr. Trump’s team would file a lawsuit “to address the blatantly false claims by these so-called filmmakers.”
Whether it was influenced by this threat or not, The Apprentice has yet to be distributed by a major studio or streaming service – none of which have even made an offer for the film.
Although high-profile films usually find buyers before or shortly after their festival showing, negotiations can drag on. A spokesperson for the film’s sales team declined to comment. A person close to the film, who requested anonymity because they were not authorized to comment publicly, said the film was the subject of numerous offers domestically.
Earlier this week, Abbasi’s frustration seemed to spill over onto social media platform X. In response to an article that blamed a flood of sequels and new releases for the films’ dismal recent box office performance, Abbasi made a “new proposal.”
Representatives for Trump did not respond to requests for comment. Last Thursday, Mr. Trump was found guilty of 34 counts of falsifying business records following what prosecutors said was an attempt to cover up a hush money payment to pornographic actress Stormy Daniels just before the 2016 presidential election.
One scene in the film is particularly explosive. At the end of the film, Trump is shown raping his wife, Ivana Trump (played by Maria Bakalova). In her 1990 divorce deposition, Ivana Trump said he raped her. Trump denied the allegation, and Ivana Trump later clarified that she did not say it literally, but rather felt violated.
Releasing The Apprentice in most years could prove difficult. In an election year, the risk of the film becoming the target of criticism is increased tenfold. Distributors would face the option of launching it either shortly before the November election or afterward.
The Apprentice received largely positive reviews at Cannes, but was not shortlisted for the prizes awarded by the festival jury. Mr. Strong’s performance was particularly praised as a possible award contender. At the film’s premiere, Abbasi defended the film’s direct approach, stating that “there is no beautiful metaphor to deal with the rising tide of fascism.” The next day, the filmmaker dismissed the threat of a trial.
