“The Apprentice,” a biopic about the rise of a young Donald J. Trump, has been acquired by Tom Ortenberg’s Briarcliff Entertainment for a pre-election U.S. release on October 11, as well as an awards push.
“The Apprentice,” looks at Trump’s early years as a real estate developer and his relationship with Roy Cohn.
The hot-button movie, which was independently produced, stars Sebastian Stan as Trump, Jeremy Strong as Cohn, Maria Bakalova as Ivana Trump, and Martin Donovan as Fred Trump Sr.
written by longtime Trump chronicler Gabriel Sherman and directed by Ali Abbasi, the pic presents a damning portrait of the former president as an ethically compromised, philanderer who stiffs contractors and cuts deals with the mob to get his buildings completed.
The Trump “origin story” premiered at the Cannes Film Festival on May 20, and quickly proved to be a bit of a hot potato as the Trump campaign issued legal threats to potential distributors.
Producers include Daniel Bekerman for Scythia Films (Canada), Jacob Jarek for Profile Pictures (Denmark), Ruth Treacy and Julianne Forde for Tailored Films (Ireland), Abbasi and Louis Tisne for Film Institute (Denmark).
Executive producers are Amy Baer, Mark H. Rapaport, Emanuel Nunez, Josh Marks, Grant S. Johnson, Phil Hunt and Compton Ross, Thorsten Schumacher, Niamh Fagan, Gabe Sherman, Lee Broda, and James Shani.
In the brief period between now and October 11, "The Apprentice" will be appearing at some fall film festivals, and a full-on awards campaign — something with which Ortenberg is very familiar from his days at Lionsgate overseeing Crash and at Open Road overseeing Spotlight, both of which won the best picture Oscar — is already being organized.
Follow the latest news on Google News
