'The Apprentice,' about a young Donald Trump, premieres in Cannes

"The Apprentice," Ali Abbasi's portrait of 1980s Donald Trump, arrived at the 77th Cannes Film Festival. Described as a dive into the underbelly of the American empire, the film follows Sebastian Stan as a young Trump, who rises to power through a Faustian deal with right-wing lawyer Roy Cohn, played by Jeremy Strong. 

JAKE COYLE
Mon, May 20, 2024 




France Cannes 2024 The Apprentice Red Carpet
Julianne Forde, from left, Ruth Treacy, Maria Bakalova, director Ali Abbasi, Sebastian Stan, and Amy Baer pose for photographers upon arrival at the premiere of the film 'The Apprentice' at the 77th international film festival, Cannes, southern France, Monday, May 20, 2024.

 (Photo by Scott A Garfitt/Invision/AP)


CANNES, France (AP) — While Donald Trump's hush money trial entered its sixth week in New York, an origin story for the Republican presidential candidate premiered at the Cannes Film Festival on Monday, unveiling a scathing portrait of the former president in the 1980s.

“The Apprentice,” directed by the Iranian Danish filmmaker Ali Abbasi, stars Sebastian Stan as Trump. The central relationship of the movie is between Trump and Roy Cohn (Jeremy Strong), the defense attorney who was chief counsel to Joseph McCarthy’s 1950s Senate investigations.

Cohn is depicted as a longtime mentor to Trump, coaching him in the ruthlessness of New York City politics and business. Early on, Cohn aided the Trump Organization when it was being sued by the federal government for racial discrimination in housing.

“The Apprentice,” which is labeled as inspired by true events, portrays Trump's dealings with Cohn as a Faustian bargain that guided his rise as a businessman and, later, as a politician. Stan's Trump is initially a more naive real-estate striver, soon transformed by Cohn's education.

The film notably contains a scene depicting Trump raping his wife, Ivana Trump (played by Maria Bakalova). In Ivana Trump’s 1990 divorce deposition, she stated that Trump raped her. Trump denied the allegation and Ivana Trump later said she didn’t mean it literally, but rather that she had felt violated.

That scene and others make “The Apprentice” a potentially explosive big-screen drama in the midst of the U.S. presidential election. The film is for sale in Cannes, so it doesn't yet have a release date.

Variety on Monday reported alleged behind-the-scenes drama surrounding “The Apprentice.” Citing anonymous sources, the trade publication reported that billionaire Dan Snyder, the former owner of the Washington Commanders and an investor in “The Apprentice,” has pressured the filmmakers to edit the film over its portrayal of Trump. Snyder previously donated to Trump's presidential campaign.

Neither representatives for the film nor Snyder could immediately be reached for comment.

In the press notes for the film, Abbasi, whose previous film “Holy Spider” depicts a female journalist investigating a serial killer in Iran, said he didn't set out to make “a History Channel episode.”

“This is not a biopic of Donald Trump," said Abbasi. "We’re not interested in every detail of his life going from A to Z. We’re interested in telling a very specific story through his relationship with Roy and Roy’s relationship with him.”

Regardless of its political impact, “The Apprentice” is likely to be much discussed as a potential awards contender. The film, shot in a gritty '80s aesthetic, returns Strong to a New York landscape of money and power a year following the conclusion of HBO’s “Succession.” Strong, who's currently performing on Broadway in “An Enemy of the People,” didn't attend the Cannes premiere Monday.

“The Apprentice” is playing in competition in Cannes, making it eligible for the festival's top award, the Palme d'Or. At Cannes, filmmakers and casts hold press conferences the day after a movie's premiere. “The Apprentice” press conference will be Tuesday.

Opinion
Pro-Trump Moron Tries to Block Anti-Trump Film That He Funded

Ellie Quinlan Houghtaling
Mon, May 20, 2024 


Dan Snyder, the disgraced former owner of the Washington Commanders, is less than thrilled about the premiere of a movie critical of Donald Trump at the Cannes Film Festival—even though he helped fund it.

The Apprentice covers Trump’s early years in the real estate industry—and focuses on the former president’s relationship with notorious political fixer Roy Cohn and his relationship with his first wife, Ivana—and premiered on Monday at Cannes to a rapturous eight-minute standing ovation. Little more was known about the film, which stars Sebastian Stan as Trump and Succession’s Jeremy Strong as Cohn, before its premiere—aside from the fact that Snyder hated it and wanted it shelved.

Snyder, a longtime Trump ally who has donated more than $1.2 million to his previous campaigns, has been embroiled in a legal battle with the film’s producers since he saw an early cut of it in February. The viewing left Snyder “furious” with the creative direction of the film, reportedly taking issue with several parts of the story and leveraging his position as an investor with the film’s distribution company, Kinematics, to argue for changes to the script, according to Variety. (That could potentially refer to one scene in which Trump is depicted sexually assaulting Ivana, as described in the couple’s 1989 divorce deposition. Ivana Trump later distanced herself from the allegation.) When his suggestions didn’t stick, Snyder turned to cease-and-desist letters in a last ditch effort to shut the film down. But still, it persists.

“All creative and business decisions involving The Apprentice have always been and continue to be solely made by Kinematics,” Kinematics president Emanuel Nuñez told Variety.

It’s unclear if Snyder was in attendance at Monday’s screening, though his yacht, the Lady S, was reported to be off the coast of Cannes Monday afternoon. After the screening ended, the movie’s director Ali Abassi gave a speech denouncing the rise of fascism.

Prior to the Trump film fiasco, Snyder was best known as a much despised former co-owner in the NFL. Prior to selling the Washington Commanders, Snyder was investigated for alleged workplace harassment and sexual misconduct, was sued by the D.C. attorney general for allegedly colluding to mislead customers, was accused by the ranking Democrat on the U.S. House Committee on Oversight and Reform of lying under oath during a hearing regarding sexual assault allegations against his team, and famously screwed up a venture to get the Commanders a new stadium before a lineup of former female employees spoke out against him in front of Congress




Ahead Of Sebastian Stan's Donald Trump Movie Premiere, Behind-The-Scenes Reports Say One Investor Is Furious With The Final Cut

Caroline Young
Mon, May 20, 2024 

Sebastian Stan as Donald Trump and Jeremy Strong as Roy Cohn in The Apprentice.

Next to the Megalopolis screening, The Apprentice is one of the buzziest films expected to premiere at the Cannes Film Festival this week. It’s the first major portrayal of former President Donald Trump on the big screen, and many plot details have been kept under wraps. What we do know is that Sebastian Stan will be playing a young Trump, and the film will mostly center around his relationship with mentor Roy Cohn, who is played by Succession cast member Jeremy Strong. Very few people have actually seen the film, but according to a recent report, some who have aren’t happy. One investor in the film is allegedly furious with the final cut and how it portrays the real estate mogul.

A report published by Variety details the behind-the-scenes scramble happening in the wake of investors viewing the final cut of The Apprentice. According to their sources, Dan Snyder, a billionaire friend and supporter of Trump invested over a million dollars into the film under the impression The Apprentice would be a flattering portrayal of the 45th president, unlike the Brendon Gleeson Trump portrayal in The Comey Rule miniseries. That is apparently not entirely the case, and now the investor is reportedly furious and feels misled. The Snyder-backed company Kinematics is where the investment came from, and now they are trying to block the film’s release.

The entire hoopla has resulted in a legal battle, with cease-and-desist letters being sent. However, Kinematics president Emanuel Nuñez has publicly insisted the company was involved in creative discussions involving the film, and Snyder just wasn’t involved. Several scenes that Snyder allegedly took issue with involve interactions between Stan’s Trump and ex-wife Ivana, who is played by Maria Bakalova. Despite pushback, Snyder is not the sole investor in the film, and will likely not be able to have any bearing on the film’s release.

Even if this controversy is to be believed, The Apprentice seems to firmly be premiering at Cannes along with many other highly anticipated 2024 titles. It has yet to secure distribution, but due to the timeliness of the subject matter and the star power involved, there will likely be many interested studios keen to distribute. There will also likely be a push to get the film out before the 2024 presidential election, in which Donald Trump is the leading Republican candidate. Whether this has any impact on the election is yet to be seen, but the media’s impact on elections is more prevalent than ever.

It is also unknown if Snyder will be in attendance at the Cannes Film Festival. The Variety article states that the investor has previously been a fixture at the French festival, however his alleged protest against the film’s release may prevent him from attending. The attention on The Apprentice and its rumored content already made it a buzzy subject for the upcoming awards season, and this behind-the-scenes conflict will likely only increase audience interest. We will just have to wait and see how viewers respond when it’s finally screened.

The Apprentice has yet to lock down a release date, however audiences can expect the film to premiere later this year. For more information on other movies heading to cinemas and streaming in the near future, make sure to keep an eye on our 2024 movie release schedule.

Donald Trump Origin Tale ‘The Apprentice’ Gets 11-Minute Ovation At Its Cannes World Premiere

Nancy Tartaglione and Anthony D'Alessandro
Mon, May 20, 2024 



The Trumps were on the red carpet this evening at the Cannes Film Festival — sort of — as Ali Abbasi’s The Apprentice world premiered in competition. The film was greeted with an 11-minute post-screening ovation at the Grand Theatre Lumiere.

Sebastian Stan, the Emmy and Golden Globe nominee known for his work in the MCU and the Hulu miniseries Pam & Tommy, here plays a young Donald Trump with Oscar nominee Maria Bakalova (Borat 2) as Trump’s first wife, Ivana. Emmy and Golden Globe winner Jeremy Strong also stars as infamous attorney Roy Cohn, and Martin Donovan is playing Fred Trump.

Stan and Bakalova attended the red-carpet premiere. Strong was not in attendance as we understand he stayed in New York where he is starring on Broadway in An Enemy of the People. (After the film ended, Abbasi held up his phone to the camera; Strong was on video, flashing the peace sign.)

Abbasi in remarks after the film said he wanted to embrace the politics of now in cinema with so much unrest in the world.



“In the time of turmoil, there’s this tendency to look inwards, to bury your head deep in the sand … and hope for the best, hope for the storm to get away,” he said. “But you know, the storm is not going away, the storm is coming, actually. The worst times are to come.”

There was lots of hugs going around among Abbasi, Stan and Bakalova as the lights went up on the two-hour film. Cate Blanchett, Cynthia Erivo and Oliver Stone were among the crowd applauding afterward. Stone, who has made his share of political films, even offered a spot review.

An exploration of power and ambition, and set in a world of corruption and deceit, The Apprentice examines Trump’s efforts to build his real estate business in New York in the 1970s and 80s, also digging into his relationship with Cohn. It’s a mentor-protégé story that charts the origins of a major American dynasty. Filled with larger than life characters, it reveals the moral and human cost of a culture defined by winners and losers.



The real-life former POTUS is currently standing trial in a criminal hush-money case in New York.

Gabriel Sherman, whose bestseller The Loudest Voice in the Room inspired Showtime’s miniseries The Loudest Voice, starring Russell Crowe as Fox News founder Roger Ailes, wrote The Apprentice script.

The Apprentice producers are Daniel Bekerman of Scythia Films, Jacob Jarek of Profile Pictures and Ruth Treacy of Taylored Films. Executive producers are Grant S. Johnson, Sherman and Amy Baer, in association with Kinematics as the financier.

International sales are being handled by Rocket Science with CAA and WME on domestic sales in Cannes. Studiocanal recently acquired UK-Ireland rights.

Deadline


Trump Campaign Vows To Sue ‘The Apprentice’ Filmmakers Over Scene Of Ivana Trump Rape By Then-Real Estate Mogul

Dominic Patten
Mon, May 20, 2024 


Already fighting dozens of indictments and an ongoing hush-money trial in New York, Donald Trump wants to head back to court over the movie that took Cannes by storm today.

“We will be filing a lawsuit to address the blatantly false assertions from these pretend filmmakers,” the Trump campaign’s Steven Cheung declared Monday over the The Apprentice film by director Ali Abbasi. Depicting the rise of Trump (Sebastian Stan) out of his father’s shadow thanks to the well-connected and ruthless Roy Cohn (Jeremy Strong), the film just debuted in the South of France to an 11-minute standing ovation.

“This garbage is pure fiction which sensationalizes lies that have been long debunked,” spokesperson Cheung said of the Competition film. “As with the illegal Biden Trials, this is election interference by Hollywood elites, who know that President Trump will retake the White House and beat their candidate of choice because nothing they have done has worked.”

Among the many incidents from Trump’s early years in the 1970s and 1980s to his The Art of the Deal fame, there is a scene in the film of the past and potentially future president raping his then-wife Ivana (Maria Bakalova). The first former Mrs. Trump, who died in 2022, had spoken of the sexual assault in the years following the couple’s divorce but later recanted the incident in the decades before her death.

Ivana Trump in 2018

The Apprentice also has a rather graphic view on Stan’s Trump getting hair treatment for his emerging bald spot and liposuction for his emerging girth. As long has been rumored in Trumpland over the decades, there is also some pill popping — in this case amphetamines.

Deadline’s Pete Hammond called The Apprentice “compelling” in his review today, but Trump 2024 seems only compelled to want to beat the picture into the ground.

“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,” Cheung stated. “It belongs in a dumpster fire.”

Of course, The Apprentice is far from the first depiction of Trump, his family, acolytes and their alleged underhanded ways to appear on either the large or small screen. It also is worth noting that Trump and his minions threaten to sue critics or detractors all the time — a move straight out of the Roy Cohn playbook. Even when the former Celebrity Apprentice host does sue, he just as often quietly retracts the action or lets it die down the line.

RELATED: ‘Where’s My Roy Cohn?’ Review: Documentary On Ruthless NY Lawyer Shows His Chilling Influence From Beyond The Grave

In that context, it was seen as a near-certainty that Trump would lash out against The Apprentice with legal wrath — whether he files something, well, that’s another matter altogether.

What we do know is, with the prosecution having rested its case in the hush-money trial earlier Monday and a defense witness testifying, Donald Trump will be back in Judge Juan Merchan’s Manhattan courtroom Tuesday. Whether he crosses the line on the looming gag order or not — again — is TBD.

Lacking a distributor for now in this election year, The Apprentice is being sold at Cannes by CAA, WME and Rocket Science.

Trump Campaign Says It Will Sue Makers of ‘Pure Garbage’ Biopic That Shows Him Raping Ex-Wife Ivana

Emily Smith
Mon, May 20, 2024 

The Trump campaign announced it will sue the “pretend filmmakers” behind a new movie that shows the presidential candidate raping his former wife, Ivana.

The biopic “The Apprentice” landed at Cannes on Monday, tracking the former reality TV star’s rise to power in the New York real estate world in the 1980s. Sebastian Stan plays Trump and “Succession” star Jeremy Strong plays his fixer Roy Cohn.

Late in the Ali Abbasi movie, a scene depicting Trump’s alleged rape of his first wife Ivana drew gasps from the Cannes premiere crowd. He is seen throwing Ivana (played by Maria Bakalova) violently to the ground and having non-consensual sex with her. “Did I find your G-spot?” he asks in the film.

In a 1989 divorce deposition, Ivana made an accusation of rape against her ex, but later rescinded her claim. During the former couple’s divorce proceedings, Trump dismissed her version of the incident as “obviously false.” Ivana died in 2022.

Sebastian Stan received praise for his role as Donald Trump in “The Apprentice” at Cannes Film Festival

“We will be filing a lawsuit to address the blatantly false assertions from these pretend filmmakers,” Steven Cheung, Trump campaign communications director, said in a statement to TheWrap.

“This garbage is pure fiction which sensationalizes lies that have been long debunked,” he added. “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.”

Donald Trump with his ex-wife Ivana in 2015 (Getty Images)

Earlier Monday, TheWrap reported “The Apprentice” had split critics, with review reactions ranging from “pointless” to “provocative.”

“’The Apprentice’ is woefully bad — and worse, pointless,” New York Times editor Karl Delossantos wrote on X (formerly Twitter). “A melange of Wikipedia plot points mixed with Donald Trump sound bytes we’ve heard a thousand times that feel forced in. ‘SNL’ was a more incisive portrayal of Trump. A frankly embarrassing effort.”

Others said Stan’s performance “exceeded expectations.” At Cannes — where #MeToo has been an ongoing discussion — the movie was met with a lengthy standing ovation.

“The Apprentice” is in competition for the Palme d’Or award. While the Canadian production has already been sold to a number of foreign territories, it has yet to land a U.S. distribution deal.

The post Trump Campaign Says It Will Sue Makers of ‘Pure Garbage’ Biopic That Shows Him Raping Ex-Wife Ivana appeared first on TheWrap

Donald Trump Movie ‘The Apprentice’ Ignites Controversy in Cannes Over Rape Scene

Tatiana Siegel
Mon, May 20, 2024 


It proved to be the most disturbing scene in a movie chock full of unflattering sequences about Donald Trump.

In Ali Abbasi’s “The Apprentice,” Trump (played by Sebastian Stan) violently throws his then-wife Ivana (Maria Bakalova) to the ground and proceeds to have nonconsensual sex with her.

In the controversial scene, Ivana playfully presents a book to her husband about the merits of a female orgasm. But the interaction between the two turns dark quickly, as an uninterested Trump tells his wife that he is no longer attracted to her. They argue, and then Trump throws her to the ground. As he angrily thrusts himself into her, an icy Trump sneers: “Is that your G spot? Did I find it?”

Heading into tonight’s premiere, insiders insisted that the scene, which Variety previously reported on, was consensual but uncomfortable. But reactions within the Palais said otherwise. One woman in her 20s called the scene, which unfolds in the couple’s home after an argument, “gross” and referred to it as “rape” after the credits rolled. Another female attendee agreed, calling it a disturbing sexual assault.

The film depicts Trump’s rise from an insecure real estate wannabe in the 1970s to a self-professed “killer” and “winner” in the mid-’80s. In a likely bid to avoid litigation, the Trump origin story opens with a disclaimer that it is based on true events, but some of the characters’ names were changed.

Other than Trump, the two characters who enjoy the most screen time are Jeremy Strong’s Roy Cohn and Bakalova’s Ivana. Both Cohn and Ivana Trump are dead.

Still, it’s an extraordinary turn of events for a film to depict a former president sexually assaulting his wife. One source familiar with the script permutations told Variety that the scene was even more overt in earlier drafts, while a second insider says the scene’s inclusion was debated for its necessity to the storyline.

The rape scene isn’t the only one that Trump may find objectionable. The 2024 presidential candidate also is depicted popping amphetamine pills, getting liposuction and having surgery to remove his bald spot. Though Cohn molds him from a nobody into a mogul, Trump does not show loyalty to his mentor when he is dying of AIDS. The notorious germaphobe had his house fumigated by staff after Cohn leaves in one scene.

But one insider says audiences may find “The Apprentice” to be an oddly humanizing portrait of a man vilified by half of the country.

The film, which is being sold by CAA, WME and Rocket Science, enters the festival without distribution. It remains to be seen if buyers have the stomach to take on a project that will certainly be a lightning rod heading into the home stretch of the election.