timely but “difficult” release of Donald Trump biopic in the United States

The film, refused by major Hollywood distributors, is released in American theaters on Friday, distributed by an independent company.

Less than a month before the American presidential election, The Apprenticean explosive biopic about the business beginnings of Republican candidate Donald Trump, is counting on the polarization of the United States to attract crowds to theaters from Friday October 11.

Focused on the years 1970-1980, the film attracted threats from Donald Trump’s lawyers, in particular for a scene which depicts him raping his ex-wife.

None of the major Hollywood studios wanted to take the risk of distributing the film, which was released under the label of an independent distributor, Briarcliff Entertainment, in some 1,700 cinemas in North America.

At the New York premiere this week, executive producer James Shani said the film had been “particularly hard” to go out. “It says a lot about the times we’re in.”

“I think it’s interesting that people find this film controversial”declared its director, the Dano-Iranian Ali Abbasi. “Think…we’re talking about someone who was really convicted of sexual assault”he added, alongside actors Sebastian Stan (Captain America) and Jeremy Strong (Succession). Donald Trump appealed this civil conviction.

One of the most controversial scenes shows Donald Trump raping his first wife Ivana, after she belittled him by accusing him of becoming fatter and balder. In reality, Ivana, who died in 2022, had accused her husband of rape during the divorce proceedings before withdrawing these accusations.

Controversy can attract attention, says media scholar Paul Dergarabedian. “But how that translates into wanting to go see the film is another thing entirely.”adds this analyst for Comscore.

The Apprenticea title inspired by a TV show he presented, will not be first at the box office this weekend, he predicts. But it should benefit from context, just like the recent biopic Reagan.

Despite the headlines, The Apprentice offers a relatively nuanced vision of the beginnings of Donald Trump, whom the film first presents as a somewhat naive careerist, trying to find his place in the ruthless world of real estate and New York politics, before gradually abandon his principles through contact with business.

“I really don’t think the film figuratively assassinates the character of Donald Trump”the director of the film presented in Cannes last May declared to AFP. During a press conference, he also invited the former president to see the film before judging it.

On Wednesday October 9, the film’s promotion teams rented a plane which unfurled a banner in the sky above a Republican meeting in Pennsylvania: “Trump, go see ‘The Apprentice’ on Friday!”