The producers of The Apprentice, the controversial Donald Trump biopic, are doing something unconventional as they are launching a Kickstarter to get the film a longer theatrical window. Directed by Ali Abbasi, The Apprentice stars Sebastian Stan as Donald Trump and follows his early career during the ’70s, particularly his working relationship with his mentor Roy Cohen played by Jeremy Strong. The Trump campaign has tried to block the film’s release, particularly due to a scene of Trump sexually assaulting his then-wife Ivana Trump, played by Maria Bakalova.
While the Trump campaign has tried to halt the release of the movie, Briarcliff Entertainment acquired the US theatrical distribution rights and has set The Apprentice for release on October 11, 2024. Meanwhile, StudioCanal has acquired the film’s UK distribution. Due to some conflicts behind the scenes regarding the film’s financiers, the producers of The Apprentice have now started a Kickstarter called “Release the Apprentice” with the goal of keeping the film in theaters for as long as possible. The crowdfunding campaign features tiered reward levels based on donation amounts, with $25 granting donors the ability to stream the film after it hits theaters. $100 donations will allow someone a chance to see their name in a special section on the end credits, while higher-level pledges include one of three actual toupees worn by Stan on-screen and VIP tickets to attend the film’s premiere in New York City. Producer Dan Bekerman said:
“Despite the integrity of the film and without even seeing it, Trump’s campaign sought to suppress it. The idea that artists can no longer freely criticize the powerful should concern us all. We need your help to resoundingly reject this dangerous precedent.”
Amy Bear, the film’s executive producer also said:
“The Apprentice is first and foremost humanist, which makes it radically different from all the political noise”
The Apprentice Conflicts Behind the Scenes
The Apprentice competed in competition at the Cannes Film Festival for the Palm d’Or and premiered on May 20, 2024. Following that screening, Donald Trump’s team sent a cease and desist letter to the film’s producers and threatened legal action if they released the film. This made landing a release more difficult. On top of that, one of the film’s financers is Kinematics, which is backed by Trump supporter Dan Snyder, who was upset at the film’s depiction of the former President of the United States. Snyder is a friend of Trump’s who donated many times to his various campaigns and invested in the movie under the belief that it was a flattering portrayal of Trump. Because Kinematics doesn’t own the copyright on The Apprentice, they could not kill it, but they made finding the film a distributor more challenging.
Variety recently reported that Kinematics closed a deal for James Shani’s Rich Spirit, one of the other major financers of The Apprentice, to acquire the company’s interest in the film and Kinematics has attributed its departure to “creative differences.” Mark Rapaport, the founder of Kinematics, released a statement regarding the film, saying:
“As a writer/director, I understand the importance of supporting visionary filmmakers in the independent film space. I created Kinematics based on that core principle. After reading the script, I saw great potential in The Apprentice and committed the funding needed to get it made. Unfortunately, creative differences caused Kinematics to leave the project.”
The Apprentice just recently screened at the Telluride Film Festival on August 31, 2024. Director Ali Abbasi has defended the movie, saying it is “not a political hit piece.” Yet the very subject of the movie, combined with a release date hoping to build off the political discourse brought on by the upcoming election, has made the film a political lightning rod. While The Apprentice likely won’t sell any tickets to Trump supporters, the bigger question is, can it draw an audience from those opposing the former president? Films primarily focused on political figures tend to have a rather low ceiling, as evident by the release of Reagan this past weekend. Reagan could not gross more than $10 million over the four-day Labor Day weekend, and unless this Kickstarter takes off for The Apprentice, it might have an extremely limited release.