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The Apprentice, Ali Abbasi’s Cannes premiere which explores Donald Trump’s formative relationship with mentor Roy Cohn, is understood to have secured a US release through Briarcliff Entertainment on October 11, more than three weeks before the presidential election.
Briarcliff, which was first linked to the film in June, is planning an awards push. CEO Tom Ortenberg is in Colorado for a sneak screening of the controversial drama on Saturday night (August 31) at Telluride Film Festival, which runs through September 2.
The Apprentice is scheduled to open in France through Metropolitan on October 9 and in the UK through Studiocanal on October 18.
Screen understands the US release is going ahead after the filmmakers cleared a significant hurdle and executive producer James Shani, whose company Rich Spirit is among the film’s backers, bought out Kinematics’ stake in the film and partnered with Briarcliff.
Dan Snyder, the billionaire Trump donor and former owner of the Washington Commanders American Football team, owns a piece of Kinematics and was said to have be angered by the tone of the film and reportedly tried to block its release. No-one associated with the movie would comment on the move by Rich Spirit.
Sebastian Stan as Trump and Jeremy Strong as Cohn earned critical acclaim for their performances. The Apprentice depicts Trump’s growing friendship in the 1970s and 1980s with Cohn, a highly connected attorney and political player who takes the aspiring real estate mogul under his wing. Cohn died of AIDS In 1986.
In one scene in the film, Trump is seen raping Ivana, his first wife, played by Maria Bakalova. Ivana Trump initially referred to the 1989 incident as rape, and spoke about it the couple’s divorce a year later. Several years later she said she did not want her words to be interpreted in a literal or criminal sense. She died in 2022.
In late May, shortly after the Cannes world premiere, lawyers for Trump sent a cease and desist letter to the filmmakers. The filmmakers shot back and said The Apprentice was “a fair and balanced portrait” of the former president, who is bidding to return to the White House in the November 5 presidential election.
Briarcliff head Tom Ortenberg, who has been in Telluride over the weekend, will now start to plan the release and awards push in earnest.
He has experience with controversial films and awards season success, having handled Michael Moore’s Fahrenheit 9/11 and Crash at Lionsgate, and Spotlight at Open Road. Fahrenheit 9/11 was a box office smash and the last two won the best picture Oscar.
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