The controversial Donald Trump biopic The Apprentice is set for a pre-election release in the US.
According to the Hollywood Reporter, the film which premiered at the Cannes film festival, will be released theatrically in the US on 11 October, less than a month before the election.
In June, it was revealed that the 80s-set drama was purchased by Briarcliff Entertainment, a relatively small company whose previous films include the Liam Neeson thrillers Memory and The Marksman as well as Michael Moore’s 2018 sequel Fahrenheit 11/9. The distributor is now reportedly planning a brief festival run before release along with an awards campaign.
The film stars Sebastian Stan as Trump as he is mentored by Roy Cohn, played by Succession’s Jeremy Strong, in 1980s New York City. It comes from the Danish Iranian director Ali Abbasi, whose violent serial killer thriller Holy Spider led to a backlash in his homeland with death threats aimed at lead actor Zar Amir Ebrahimi.
“We have a promotional event called the US elections that we are hoping is going to help our movie,” Abbasi joked in May. “If I’m right, the second debate is going to be in October. So that would be a good release date for us.”
It was met with mixed reviews upon its premiere this May with the Guardian’s Peter Bradshaw criticising it as “obtuse and irrelevant” yet Variety’s Owen Gleiberman praising it as “sharp and scathing”.
The film also made headlines for a scene where Trump rapes his wife at the time, Ivana, played by Maria Bakalova.
A cease-and-desist letter was sent to the film-makers by Trump’s legal team with a statement describing it as “malicious defamation”. In 1990, during divorce proceedings, Ivana had accused him of sexual assault, something she later recanted. Since the 1970s, at least 26 women have accused Trump of sexual assault or harassment. He has denied all allegations.
It was also reportedly criticised by its billionaire backer Dan Snyder who contributed toward the film believing it to be a positive portrayal.
When asked about Trump’s opinion on the film, Abbasi said at Cannes: “I don’t think it is a movie 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.”
