The countdown to November’s presidential election is on, but the race already has a surprise in store for October: the release of a controversial biopic about Donald Trump.
“The Apprentice,” which chronicles the real estate mogul’s formative years before he made headlines thanks to reality TV fame and political polarization, is set to hit theaters Oct. 11.
Directed by Iranian-Danish filmmaker Ali Abbasi and written by journalist Gabriel Sherman, the film stars Marvel idol Sebastian Stan as a young Trump in the 1970s and ’80s, and “Succession” star Jeremy Strong as his early mentor Roy Cohn.
Bulgarian actress Maria Bakalova plays Trump’s first wife, Ivana, who claimed in her 1990 divorce filing that he raped her during their marriage. The film dramatizes that alleged incident, which Trump has denied.
According to Variety, pro-Trump billionaire Dan Snyder opposed the portrayal of his friend in the film and went out of his way to block it, even after initially financing the film through the film company Kinematics.
After “The Apprentice” premiered at the 77th Cannes Film Festival in May, Trump spokesman Steven Cheung criticized the film as “pure malicious smear,” while the campaign issued legal threats to potential distributors.
But the show went on, thanks to a partnership with California-based independent distributor Briarcliff Entertainment.
“I am so excited to bring the film to its local audience!!! America here we come,” Abbasi wrote in a social media post Friday.
Described as “an exploration of power and ambition in a world of corruption and deception,” the film takes its title from the wildly popular NBC reality show that catapulted Trump into mainstream pop culture.
As of Friday night, “The Apprentice” had already earned a 77 percent critics’ rating on Rotten Tomatoes.
