Two weeks after its much-anticipated premiere at the Cannes Film Festival, a film about Donald Trump in the 1980s is still seeking distribution in the United States.
In Cannes, “The Apprentice” unveiled a scathing portrait of the former U.S. President as a young man. The film, starring Sebastian Stan, chronicles Trump’s rise to power in New York real estate under the tutelage of Roy Cohn (Jeremy Strong), the defense attorney who was chief counsel to Joseph McCarthy’s 1950s Senate investigations of suspected communists.
“The Apprentice,” directed by the Danish Iranian filmmaker Ali Abbasi, immediately sparked controversy. After its premiere, Trump’s reelection campaign spokesperson, Steven Cheung, called the movie “pure fiction” and said the Trump team would file a lawsuit “to address the blatantly false assertions from these pretend filmmakers.”
Whether influenced by Cheung’s remarks or not, “The Apprentice” is yet to secure distribution from either a major studio or a leading streaming service — none of whom have put in a bid on the movie. While the film has picked up international distribution in most territories worldwide, it doesn’t yet have a home in the country where Trump is running for president.
Releasing “The Apprentice” in most years could be challenging. In an election year, it’s a potential lighting rod. Distributors would be faced with the option of launching it either shortly before the election in November or after it.
“The Apprentice” received largely positive reviews in Cannes but didn’t factor into the festival’s juried awards. Strong’s performance was particularly praised as a possible awards contender.
At the film’s premiere, Abbasi argued for the movie’s direct approach, saying “there is no nice metaphorical way to deal with the rising wave of fascism.”
The following day, the filmmaker shrugged off the threat of a lawsuit.
“I don’t necessarily think that this is a movie he would dislike,” said Abbasi. “I don’t necessarily think he would like it. I think he would be surprised, you know? And 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.”
The Associated Press contributed to this article.