Cannes Film Festival
EXCLUSIVE: The movie Donald Trump doesn’t want people to see is going global.
While intrigue continues to surround the film’s U.S. release prospects, the Cannes Competition title The Apprenticeabout Trump’s rise to power, has been sold to major independent distributors in a number of international markets where demand has been strong.
International sales company Rocket Science has closed deals to release the film in Italy (BIM), Spain (Vertigo Films), Scandinavia (Nordisk), Benelux (The Searchers), Greece (Odeon), Portugal (Lusomundo), Eastern Europe ( M2), Japan (Kino), Latin America (Sun), Israel (Lev Cinema), Airlines (Skeye) and Australia and New Zealand (Madman).
Deals were recently announced for the UK (Studio Canal), France (Metropolitan) and Germany, Austria and Switzerland (DCM). Mongrel is launching in Canada through a pact sealed by producers.
Some of these deals were struck before Cannes, while others were signed on the Croisette, where the film premiered last month to largely positive reviews – stars Sebastian Stan and Jeremy Strong received particular praise – and became one of the festival’s talking points. .
Agreements for the remaining international territories are said to be in “final negotiations”. Among them is Russia, where the film could have an interesting reception and campaign.
Directed by Ali Abbasi and written by Gabe Sherman, The Apprentice stars Emmy nominee Sebastian Stan (Pam and Tommy) as Donald Trump, Emmy winner Jeremy Strong (Succession) as arsonist Roy Cohn, Martin Donovan (Principle) as Fred Trump Sr., and Oscar nominee Maria Bakalova (Borat Subsequent Movie) as Ivana Trump.
The film charts young Donald Trump’s rise to power through a Faustian bargain with influential right-wing lawyer and political fixer Cohn.
Industry watchers expected the film to land a U.S. deal soon after its Cannes release. Some we spoke to assumed a streamer would be the most logical option. However, in an election year, threats of legal action from Trump’s team (the film includes a controversial scene in which Trump’s character rapes his ex-wife Ivana) and the account of a disgruntled financier did not help progress. in the sense of a quick internal pact.
The current situation, as we understand it, is that several parties remain interested in the film domestically and there is confidence that a deal will be reached, probably this month. Inevitably, due diligence is being carried out even more rigorously by potential buyers.
The Apprentice It’s a hot potato and a modern proposition with a lot of integrated marketing. International buyers may be less obviously in the line of fire than a US distributor, but there has been speculation that Trump’s status after the upcoming presidential election could influence any release: either he will be a convicted felon who has just lost his second consecutive attempt at the White House or he will be President of the USA and once again the most powerful man in the world (as well as a convicted criminal).
Certainly, the project’s path was never a straight line. The film was kept secret by the filmmakers throughout production, partly in hopes of avoiding controversy. We heard it was significantly strict from a legal perspective if you encountered bumps in the road. Despite the challenges, we understand that the cuts are not being accepted by filmmakers who naturally want to maintain their artistic integrity.
Producers are Daniel Bekerman of Scythia Films, Jacob Jarek of Profile Pictures, Ruth Treacy and Julianne Forde of Tailored Films, and Ali Abbasi and Louis Tisné of the Film Institute. Executive producers are Amy Baer, Mark H. Rapaport, Emanuel Nunez, Grant S. Johnson, Phil Hunt, Compton Ross, Thorsten Schumacher, Levi Woodward, Niamh Fagan, Gabriel Sherman, Gray Denny, James Shani, Noor Alfallah, Andy Cohen, Andrew Frank, Neil Mathieson, Lee Broda, Blair Ward, Anders Erdén.
Sponsors include Kinematics, Head Gear Films, Screen Ireland, Film i Väst, The Danish Film Institute and National Bank of Canada.
Director Abbasi tweeted the film’s first concept art today, playfully adding, “Make the posters great again.”
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