The Apprentice: Controversial Donald Trump biopic is coming to UAE cinemas

Film directed by Ali Abbasi earned a standing ovation at Cannes

Maria Bakalova and Sebastian Stan star in The Apprentice. Photo: Apprentice Productions Ontario Inc

The Apprentice, the biopic that earned an eight-minute standing ovation at Cannes, is set to hit UAE cinemas on October 16.

The controversial film, which will be distributed in the GCC by Front Row Filmed Entertainment, shines a light on the early rise of Donald Trump as a businessman in 1980s New York, when he worked for his father's real estate firm.

Directed by Iranian-Danish filmmaker Ali Abbasi, the film stars Sebastian Stan – best known for his role in the Marvel Cinematic Universe – as Trump, while Maria Bakalova, the Oscar-nominated star of Borat Subsequent Moviefilm, plays his wife Ivana.

The movie was written by journalist Gabriel Sherman, who profiled Trump in various magazines and publications over the years.

The film premiered at the 77th Cannes Film Festival on May 20 and has received mixed reviews. The National’s James Mottram, who attended the screening, gave it three out of five stars. He praised the film's intrigue but noted it loses momentum in the second half.

What was Trump’s response to the movie?

After the film's debut at Cannes, Trump’s legal team said they would be suing. “We will be filing a lawsuit to address the blatantly false assertions from these pretend filmmakers,” Trump's campaign chief spokesperson Steven Cheung said.

“This garbage is pure fiction which sensationalises 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.

“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.”

Jeremy Strong and Sebastian Stan in The Apprentice. Photo: Apprentice Productions Ontario Inc

A few days later, Abbasi responded to Trump's threats. “Everybody talks about him suing a lot of people – they don’t talk about his success rate though, you know?” Abbasi said at a press conference. He even offered to meet with Trump and screen the film for him.

"I don’t necessarily think that this is a movie he would dislike. I don’t necessarily think he would like it. I think he would be surprised," he said. "Like I’ve said before, I would offer to go and meet him wherever he wants and talk about the context of the movie, have a screening and have a chat afterwards, if that’s interesting to anyone at the Trump campaign.”

Turning to Kickstarter

The Apprentice struggled to find a distributor after Cannes because of the subject matter, before eventually finding a home with Briarcliff Entertainment.

Earlier this month, it launched a Kickstarter to raise $100,000 to expand the film's distribution potential to be seen by as many people as possible for as long as possible. It surpassed its goal within a day and has now expanded its target to $350,000.