Ali Abbasi’s The Apprentice starring Sebastian Stan as Donald Trump coming of age in the 1970s and 1980s and Jeremy Strong as his fixer Roy Cohn heads into tonight’s world premiere without US distribution in place despite selling across the world.
While Rocket Science has quietly sold international territories, US reps CAA Media Finance and WME Independent may be holding out for a deal after the first screening. “You need to see these films to gauge playability,” said one US buyer.
Yet the film may also be too hot to handle, exacerbating what is already a well-known lack of appetite for big bets due to lower pay-1 fees as streamers have generally toned down their acquisitions activity in favour of in-house productions.
Another potential deterrent is the possibility of legal action from Trump – whose ongoing New York fraud trial has dominated headlines – should he take issue with aspects of the film. At time of writing a number of US buyers had told Screen the film had not screened prior to today’s premiere.
In a year when Trump and Joe Biden hurtle towards a November election, potential buyers are weighing up political fatigue among audiences.
“If it’s a cinematic masterpiece or a wild escapist ride, we would go after it,” said one buyer. “[But for anything in between] the public isn’t engaging with this stuff as much as they used to.”
The more removed from reality, the better, say some. At a press conference yesterday for Guy Maddin’s G7 satire Rumours, Cate Blanchett observed the film’s absurdist nature could work in its favour. “It’s not trying to be an important film with a message,” she said.
Alex Garland’s dystopian thriller Civil War has grossed nearly $70m in the US. Notably it does not take political sides and according to distributor A24 audiences were evenly split in their political leanings.
It’s not all about Trump. Dogwoof has picked up international sales on Lula, Oliver Stone’s documentary about Brazilian president Luiz Inácio “Lula” da Silva’s (ultimately successful) bid to return to the presidency after imprisonment. Gersh represents US rights to the Special Screening which premiered on Sunday. Producer Fernando Sulichin said, “You never know what the reaction will be. I want people to see the film in the broadest way possible.”
Autlook has closed key territories on market title No Other Land, the Palestinian-Israeli documentary that won the documentary award and Panorama audience award at this year’s Berlinale. But there is no US deal as yet.
Screen understands the film will continue to play prestige festivals throughout the year to bolster its 2025 awards season prospects and build buzz.
By then the hope is a US sale will have emerged. The film’s strategists are playing the long game. It remains to be seen whether those behind The Apprentice are taking the same approach and will want to make it available to US audience before or after November 5.
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