Controversial Donald Trump biopic lands pre-election release date

‘The Apprentice’ starring Sebastian Stan as young Donald Trump initially struggled to find a buyer after its Cannes Film Festival premiere

Director Ali Abbasi’s controversial Donald Trump biopic, The Apprentice, has secured a pre-election release date months after it initially struggled to find a buyer.

Starring Sebastian Stan as a young Trump and Succession’s Jeremy Strong as his mentor, lawyer and political fixer Roy Cohn, the 80s-set movie is described as an “origin story.”

According to The Hollywood Reporter, the movie has been acquired by Tom Ortenberg’s Briarcliff Entertainment and is scheduled for a theatrical release in the US on October 11. It is additionally expected to receive an awards push for the 2025 Oscars.

The news comes months after The Apprentice struggled to find a US distributor or streaming deal, despite critical acclaim following its world premiere at the Cannes Film Festival in May.

At the time, the film’s producers reportedly believed that studios and distributors were wary about getting involved with the project because of fear of repercussions should Trump be reelected as president in November.

The biopic reportedly contains a number of unflattering scenes, including Trump using drugs and undergoing cosmetic operations.

More controversially, it shows Trump raping his first wife Ivana, who had accused him of sexually assaulting her in a 1989 divorce deposition. She later disavowed the age-old allegation in 2015.

Jeremy Strong and Sebastian Stan as Roy Cohn and Donald Trump in ‘The Apprentice’ (The Apprentice Productions Inc/Profile Productions/Tailored Films Ltd)

It was also financially backed by Billionaire Dan Snyder, former owner of NFL team the Washington Commanders, under the impression that it would paint a flattering portrait of the former president’s rise in real estate. Snyder is said to be “furious” about the final film.

Days after it screened at Cannes, Trump’s campaign sent a cease-and-desist letter, warning producers not to pursue a distribution deal.

“We filed a lawsuit to address the blatantly false assertions from these pretend filmmakers,” Trump campaign chief spokesperson Steven Cheung said in a statement to The Independent.

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

Producers hit back at the Trump campaign’s claims, telling Variety that “the film is a fair and balanced portrait of the former president. We want everyone to see it and then decide.”

During the movie’s press conference at Cannes, Abbasi teased the movie’s forthcoming release, joking: “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.”