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Will Someone Please Buy the Donald Trump Movie?

So far, the big streamers and many indie distributors have passed on the biopic “The Apprentice” despite its strong reviews and Oscar buzz at Cannes. It’s not the easiest sell to wary audiences, but remember when film executives weren’t total wusses?

the apprentic biopic
Here we are, 10 days after the premiere to worldwide attention, generally very good reviews, and even some Oscar buzz for Strong and Stan, and The Apprentice hasn’t found a U.S. distributor. Photo: Courtesy of Scythia Films
Matthew Belloni
May 31, 2024

Donald Trump has other things on his mind today—34 other things, actually. But before he was convicted, the former president took time from his hectic criminal trial schedule earlier this month to authorize sending a nasty cease-and-desist letter over The Apprentice, the biopic directed by Ali Abbasi and starring Sebastian Stan as a young Trump under the tutelage of an Emperor Palpatine-like Roy Cohn, played by Jeremy Strong. The real Trump isn’t a fan.