Will The Apprentice’s Release Date Affect Donald Trump’s Presidential Campaign?

The release of The Apprentice has come as an unwelcome surprise for Donald Trump’s campaign this October. He is the latest former U.S. president to be portrayed on the big screen in a less than favorable light.

Billionaire Dan Snyder, a close friend of Trump, initially funded the film, expecting a positive portrayal of the former president. However, after seeing the finished version, Snyder attempted to block its release by involving his legal team.

When Trump’s lawyers issued a cease-and-desist order

Trump’s own lawyers issued a cease-and-desist order to prevent the movie from being marketed, distributed, and shown, but their efforts were unsuccessful.

The film had its world premiere at the Cannes Film Festival in May and debuted in New York last week following a Kickstarter campaign aimed at promoting and defending the biopic. It will soon be released commercially across the U.S. and Europe, including the UK on October 18.

The producers describe the film as a “fair and balanced portrait” based on factual events, starting with footage of Richard Nixon’s famous “I’m not a crook” speech, drawing an obvious parallel to Trump.

It follows Trump from his early days working in his father’s property business during the 1970s and 1980s to the rise of his political career and his role in the reality TV show The Apprentice.

The film concludes with Trump commissioning the ghostwriter for his 1987 bestseller The Art of the Deal and undergoing cosmetic procedures.

Sebastian Stan portrays Trump with a keen eye for detail, capturing many of his recognizable mannerisms. The film paints Trump as a privileged, ambitious young man who becomes embroiled in blackmail, corruption, family disputes, and bankruptcy.

What happens in the movie?

One graphic scene depicts him raping his first wife, Ivana Trump—a claim she later recanted, stating that she and Donald remained friends and that he would never harm her. Ivana, the mother of Don Jr., Ivanka, and Eric Trump, passed away in 2022.

A key figure in Trump’s development is Roy Cohn, a lawyer who mentored him in the art of winning by any means necessary. Cohn famously believed that there was no objective truth, only what one asserts it to be.

Once a fierce anti-Communist prosecutor, Cohn became notorious for his involvement with figures like Nixon, Senator Joe McCarthy, and Mafia bosses. He also played a central role in the prosecution that led to the execution of Julius and Ethel Rosenberg for espionage.

By the end of the film, Trump distances himself from Cohn, partly due to his illness and partly due to Cohn’s advice to “slow down” on risky deals. In one scene, Trump hosts a birthday party for Cohn at Mar-a-Lago, which is soured when Ivana reveals that the expensive gifts Cohn received were fake.

The performances of Sebastian Stan, Maria Bakalova, and Jeremy Strong have been praised as Oscar-worthy, though it’s uncertain whether the Academy will recognize the film if Trump is re-elected. Strong, known for his role in Succession, portrays Roy Cohn and has spoken about the character’s mix of charm and ruthlessness.

Although it’s unclear how the film will impact Trump’s campaign, one audience member at the U.S. premiere jokingly speculated that it could help Trump win simply because Sebastian Stan is attractive.

The film’s director, Ali Abbassi, commented on the thrill of making the movie, while screenwriter Gabriel Sherman hopes it will give audiences a reflective look at Trump’s behavior ahead of the election.

The outcome of The Apprentice at the box office remains to be seen, though Trump may be privately disappointed if it doesn’t achieve commercial success.

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