Here’s a task from a hypothetical episode of former US president Donald Trump’s reality TV hit The Apprentice. A Danish-Iranian director and a political journalist have collaborated on a film about the early days of the 45th US president, which focuses on his rise to power as a New York property mogul in the 1980s, under the mentorship of notorious right-wing lawyer Roy Cohn. The film, which debuted at the 2024 Cannes Film Festival to strong reviews, has struggled to get a release, mostly because it was part funded by a company that has a billionaire pro-Trump CEO who has been so unhappy with the portrayal of his idol on screen that he’s done everything in his power to stop it from seeing the light of day. The subject of the film, who is notoriously litigious, also threatened legal action against the film, claiming in a cease and desist letter sent shortly after the film’s premier in May that “this ‘film’ is pure malicious defamation, should not see the light of day, and doesn’t even deserve a place in the straight-to-DVD section of a bargain bin at a soon-to-be-closed discount movie store, it belongs in a dumpster fire.”
Your mission, should you choose to accept it, is to get the film, ironically titled The Apprentice, on as many screens in the US as possible before the election in November. So what do you do?
Though its fortunes have recently changed for the better, The Apprentice (directed by filmmaker Ali Abbasi, written by Vanity Fair reporter Gabe Sherman and starring Sebastian Stan as young Trump and Jeremy Strong as devil incarnate Cohn) is still struggling to find the wide US release its producers are hoping for if it is to have any impact on the electorate before November.
The initial block to its release made by pro-Trump billionaire and part funder of the film Dan Snyder has fallen away after his company Kinematics sold its stake in the project to a less politically invested production company. After strong recent festival showings in the US, the film has reportedly finally managed to secure a distribution deal with a small independent outfit for October 11, and the film’s producers are still looking for further funding to secure more screens.
As so many people in the digital era have done when it comes to funding crazy ideas that they believe in, the producers of The Apprentice have turned to crowdfunding site Kickstarter to ask people for money to help reach their investment goal of $100,000. In the project’s description on the website, the producers remind us that, “The obstacles we have faced releasing this movie are well documented. Our distribution was blocked. We were hit with a cease and desist from Trump’s lawyers ... Major media companies were afraid to show you this movie. Releasing this movie has become a David and Goliath struggle, but with your support, you can help #ReleaseTheApprentice.”
According to The Hollywood Reporter, on offer as incentives for potential funders are a replica pair of cufflinks worn in the film, which a $400 investment will secure; a producing workshop with producer Daniel Bekerman (yours for a $2,500 contribution) and the gold prize of a toupee worn by Stan in the film, which can be obtained for just $3,500. There are three toupees available, so hurry before it’s too late. If you’re strapped for the kind of cash that would enable you to wear a piece of fictional Trump on your head, you can get your name in the end credits for a $100 donation.
As Abbasi joked to The Guardian earlier this year, “We have a promotional event called the US elections that we are hoping is going to help our movie ... If I’m right, the second debate is going to be in October. So that would be a good release date for us.”
He may be slightly off on his second debate prediction and the playing field has shifted dramatically since he made the quip but, the film would certainly benefit from a greater than usual interest factor were it to be widely released before the elections.
If you’re a Trump supporter, however, you’ll probably not want to see a film about the young 1980s master of the universe and the art of the deal that includes a controversial scene in which he rapes his then wife, Ivana.
You can also safely bet, based on experience, that Trump himself has not seen the film, even if Abbasi has said that he doesn’t think it’s “a movie that he would dislike. I don’t necessarily think he would like it, but I think he’d be surprised. So I’m happy to meet him, have a screening and then we can discuss it afterwards.”
So if you’re a US citizen, it’s time to get on your computer, secure your Trump toupee and get ready for The Apprentice, which may or may not be coming to a screen near you in time for it to affect your vote. The rest of us will have to wait and see if Stan’s and Strong’s performances earn them the kind of awards buzz that may make distributors here take notice.
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