* NOTE: If you want to donate to the kickstarter click here: RELEASE THE APPRENTICE
Filmmakers of “The Apprentice,” a dramatized origin story in which Sebastian Stan portrays a young Donald Trump, are asking for money to bolster the film’s theatrical release.
In a highly unusual move, they launched a Kickstarter called “Release the Apprentice” to “keep the film in as many theaters for as long as possible,” according to a press release. The crowdfunding campaign features tiered reward levels based on donation amounts, including a $25 donation which allows people to stream the film after it hits theaters, and a $100 donation for which donors will be able to see their name in a special section on the end credits. Higher level pledges include one of three actual toupees worn by Stan on-screen and VIP tickets to attend the film’s premiere in NYC.
“The Apprentice is first and foremost humanist, which makes it radically different from all the political noise,” said executive producer Amy Baer.
“Despite the integrity of the film and without even seeing it, Trump’s campaign sought to suppress it,” added producer Dan Bekerman. “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.”
“The Apprentice” premiered at Cannes Film Festival and landed at Briarcliff Entertainment after struggling to find a buyer. The 1970s-set film, directed by Ali Abbasi, proved controversial on the Croisette over a scene in which Trump rapes his then wife Ivana, played by Maria Bakalova. The movie centers on Trump’s relationship with Roy Cohn (Jeremy Strong), the cutthroat attorney who helped create the man the public knows today.
Trump has criticized “The Apprentice” and the former president’s camp has threatened legal action over the movie, saying in a statement, “This garbage is pure fiction which sensationalizes lies that have been long debunked.”