CINEMA
What is the movie ‘The Apprentice’ about and when will it be released in the US?
Former president Donald Trump has issued a cease and desist letter to filmmakers to stop the biopic from being shown in the United States.
Donald Trump has been in the news (again) this week after attempting to stop ‘The Apprentice’ from hitting the big screen, with the former president of the United States sending a cease and desist letter to the filmmakers behind the movie on Friday.
What is the plot of ‘The Apprentice’?
Directed by Ali Abassi and starring Sebastian Stan as then New York real estate developer Trump, the film, whose title references the reality TV show he co-produced tells the story of the early year’s of the Republican’s business career. It focuses specifically on the relationship between Trump and prosecutor Roy Cohn, his real-life former attorney and mentor.
Cohn is best known for working with Senator Joseph McCarthy during the Second Red Scare, in which left-wing individuals were politically repressed and persecuted, with McCarthy alleging numerous communists, Soviet spies and sympathisers had infiltrated the United States government.
Why is Trump trying to stop ‘The Apprentice’ from being shown in the US?
The biopic premiered at the 2024 Cannes Film festival and also features a reported sexual assault of first wife Ivana, who he was married to between 1977 and 1990.
“The Movie presents itself as a factual biography of Mr. Trump, yet nothing could be further from the truth,” the letter to Abassi and screenwriter Gabriel Sherman states.
A “concoction of lies” or “a fair and balanced portrait”?
“It is a concoction of lies that repeatedly defames President Trump and constitutes direct foreign interference in America’s elections. If you do not immediately cease and desist all distribution and marketing of this libelous farce, we will be forced to pursue all appropriate legal remedies.”
The letter concludes by stating the filmmakers have until Monday 27 May to comply with Trump’s demands. Abassi and Sherman, however, believe the film “is a fair and balanced portrait of the former president” and say they “want everyone to see it and then decide.”
The film received a lengthy standing ovation following its premiere in Cannes, although the legal issues mean that a deal has yet to be done for it to be shown on the big screen in the United States.