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Sebastian Stan was highly praised for portraying Donald Trump in the biographical drama, The Apprentice. While the movie did not make a huge splash at the box office, it stirred up a lot of controversy prior to its release, thanks mainly to the former and new president of America. Now Stan has revealed that since Trumps unprecedented election victory, he has found himself being shut out when it comes to being able to speak about the movie even having to cancel an episode of Varietys Actors on Actors series as no one would participate with him.

Speaking at a Q&a after a screening of The Apprentice, Stan joined director Ali Abbasi to talk about the film, and revealed that he has struggled to find people willing to openly discuss the movie and its subject in any way for fear of receiving some kind of blowback for it. Stan said:...

Stars: Sebastian Stan, Jeremy Strong, Maria Bakalova, Martin Donovan, Catherine McNally, Charlie Carrick, Ben Sullivan | Written by Gabriel Sherman | Directed by Ali Abbasi

Directed by Ali Abbasi (who made Iranian serial killer drama Holy Spider) and written by political journalist Gabriel Sherman, The Apprentice is a chilling account of Donald Trump’s rise to power in New York in the ’70s and ’80s. It’s particularly fascinating because it traces the origins of key elements of Trump’s larger-than-life persona, though it arguably never gets below the surface.

The Apprentice begins in 1973, where 27-year-old Donald Trump (Sebastian Stan) is working as a rent collector for a real estate company owned by his father, Fred (Martin Donovan). With an upcoming lawsuit hanging over their heads, Trump starts hanging out at a swanky New York club, where he’s singled out by shark-like lawyer Roy Cohn (Succession’s Jeremy Strong), who revels...

Director Ali Abbasi risked his career to direct the upcoming biopic about former U.S. President Donald Trump called The Apprentice. The Holy Spider director has already worked with sensitive topics based on real-life events, so The Apprentice seemed right up his alley, but other directors and distributors were not willing to take the risk. Abbasi has been vocal about his struggle to make the film and score a distributor, encountering networks like ABC and CBS that refuse to air the movie in TV spots. As the 2024 election grows closer, new details about the tough production are being revealed.

4/5 The Apprentice R

Set during the early years of Trump's business career, the film focuses on the relationship of Trump and Roy Cohn, a New York City prosecutor known for working with Senator Joseph McCarthy during the Second Red Scare.

Release Date October 11, 2024Director Ali AbbasiCast Sebastian Stan, Jeremy Strong, Maria Bakalova,...

Chicago – Patrick McDonald of HollywoodChicago.com appears on “The Morning Mess” with Scott Thompson on Wbgr-fm on October 10th, reviewing the film “The Apprentice,” a biography of Donald Trump, the “early years.” In theaters on October 11th.

Sebastian Stan is The Donald, portraying him in the 1970s and ‘80s, up to the point of writing “The Art of the Deal.” His development is through a mentor Roy Cohn (an icy performance by Jeremy Strong) who was the infamous architect lawyer of 1950s commie hunter Joseph McCarthy. Roy teaches the young real estate developer three principles of life … 1) Attack, attack, attack. 2) Admit nothing, deny everything and 3) no matter what, claim victory and Never admit defeat. Donald accepts the three credos in his life, the results of which create the man we still don’t know today.

”The Apprentice” is in theaters on October 11th. Featuring Sebastian Stan, Jeremy Strong, Maria Bakalova,...

Lives of historical figures often get cinematic treatment to tell sweeping tales of real life events, and Ali Abbasi’s The Apprentice captures former president Donald Trump in a key moment before the 2024 presidential election. Starring Sebastian Stan as Trump, Jeremy Strong as Roy Cohn and Maria Bakalova as Trump’s first wife Ivanka, the film marks the latest in a catalog of films that explore the lives of political people. From United States Presidents to their wives and First Ladies, to Supreme Court Justices to scientists and brilliant minds, nobody is off limits, especially if the stories are triumphant. Others have more tragic endings.

The 2024 Academy Awards showed just how popular a biopic can be amongst voters with Christopher Nolan’s Oppenheimer netting Best Picture, Best Director and Best Actor. Actors and actresses do almost anything to become the real-life person they portray in a biopic, from working with...

This review was originally published during the 2024 Cannes Film Festival.

Since its announcement, the Donald Trump biopic has had a looming shadow of controversy around it. Given the former president's life story, it's easy to see why folks would be for or against it. The Apprentice premiered at the Cannes Film Festival to resounding applause. Written by Gabriel Sherman and directed by Ali Abbasi, the story follows Trump's early career and his quest to expand his real estate under the guidance of lawyer Roy Cohn. While the film is exactly what you'd expect, it comes with stunning performances and an exciting script that enchants with its drama.

The Apprentice

Director Ali AbbasiRelease Date October 11, 2024Studio(s) Fabula PicturesWriters Gabriel ShermanCast Sharon Wilcox, Myron Ron Reider, Stefanie Martino, Raechel Fisher, Robert J. Tavenor, Valerie O'Connor, Ian D. Clark, Bruce Beaton, Jim Monaco, Catherine McNally, Ben Sullivan, Chloe Madison, Michael Hough, Randy Thomas,...

With the awards race ramping up, and festival favorites emerging, the list of films in the Best Picture Oscar race can seem long, and, this early in the season, distinctly unclear. Fortunately, both Deadline’s Awards Columnist and Chief Film Critic, Pete Hammond, and Film Awards Editor Damon Wise keep on hand an ever-evolving dossier of ones to watch. But then, of course, they don’t always agree. So, we got them together to boil it all down in a back-and-forth: What’s hot, what’s not, and what’s got big-prize potential. Bear in mind, there are, of course, more films yet to come, and for brevity’s sake, not every film with broad Oscar potential could be included in this discussion, but here are Hammond and Wise in conversation about some of the films on their maybe-Best-Picture lists right now. Click on each film’s title to read Deadline’s review.

Several months after its debut at the 77th Cannes Film Festival, the highly-anticipated The Apprentice is releasing in theaters. The Iranian-Danish filmmaker Ali Abbasi directed the biopic that follows Donald Trump's rise to prominence in the real estate business during the 1970s and 1980s, with the former United States president not involved in the making of the film. The Apprentice debuted to positive reviews following its Cannes debut.

Despite the largely positive reception, The Apprentice's release became controversial as the film struggled to find a U.S. distributor following legal action from Trump and his supporters. Other controversies revolved around Washington Commanders owner Dan Snyder, who demanded a recut after investing via the production company Kinematics because he was under the impression that the film would have a favorable depiction of Trump. The Apprentice eventually landed Briarcliff Entertainment as a U.S. distributor, ensuring the project would be...

Zurich Film Festival has revealed a second wave of Gala titles, which includes films starring Tilda Swinton, Sebastian Stan, Nicole Kidman, Pierce Brosnan and Samuel L. Jackson.

Among the 10 added titles are four world premieres, two international premieres and one European premiere.

Zurich will screen, among others, Ali Abbas’ “The Apprentice,” starring Stan, Pedro Almodóvar’s “The Room Next Door,” starring Swinton, and Halina Reijn’s “Babygirl,” starring Kidman.

Richard Gray’s Western “The Unholy Trinity,” starring Brosnan and Jackson, has its world premiere.

The other world premieres are “Frieda’s Case” by Maria Brendle, “Aiming High – A Race Against the Limits” by Flavio Gerber and Alun Meyerhans, and German epic adventure “Hagen.”

“The fact that we have the opportunity to present so many world and European premieres goes to show that the Zff holds a strong position in the international calendar,” Christian Jungen, artistic director of the festival, said.

The producers and filmmakers behind “The Apprentice” are positioning their movie as the film that Donald Trump and corporate America don’t want you to see — and now they want your help so that more average Joes can see it. Specifically, they want your money.

Producers have launched a Kickstarter campaign in a bid to fuel the movie’s marketing, cover some anticipated legal fees, and hold more screenings. An individual with knowledge of the campaign told IndieWire a small percentage of the money raised will go to attorney fees, while the majority is going toward marketing. There are rewards for the financial support, including getting your names in the credits, getting to stream the film, or for some of the top backers, having dinner with the producers and getting invited to an eventual New York city premiere.

Generally speaking, promotion of a film mirrors the film’s production budget.

Ali Abbasi’s Donald Trump movie “The Apprentice” starring Sebastian Stan as Trump and Jeremy Strong as Roy Cohn will get a chance to help shape the 2024 presidential election.

“The Apprentice” has been acquired for U.S. distribution by Briarcliff Entertainment, which plans to release it in theaters ahead of the election on October 11, IndieWire has learned.

Abbasi’s film made its premiere in competition at Cannes to lukewarm reviews, even given the morbid-curiosity factor of seeing Trump’s rise to power — as well as it being an “Avengers” star who portrays the 45th president. In his review of “The Apprentice” out of Cannes, IndieWire critic David Ehrlich wrote that while the film generates an ounce of sympathy for Cohn and the “monster he helped create” in Trump, Trump as a character is too shallow to be dramatically interesting.

“Sometimes in broad strokes and sometimes with brutal specificity, ‘The Apprentice...