Entertainment Weekly The Apprentice filmmakers on ‘shocking’ struggle to find a buyer: ‘It’s cowardice in the face of Donald Trump’

For much of the six years it took to make The Apprentice, the filmmakers and actors involved weren’t sure it would ever see the light of day.

But when it finally premiered at the Cannes Film Festival in May, earning an 11-minute standing ovation and positive reviews, director Ali Abbasi felt like his final hurdle — finding a distributor — would soon be behind him. And yet, the major Hollywood studios and streamers weren’t calling.

“It was pretty shocking for me after the reception we got in Cannes,” he admits. “I understand it from the business perspective of not wanting to have trouble, but we’re not in the business of ice creams. We’re not selling shoes. So yeah, it was shocking.”

He knew it wouldn’t be easy. After all, it’s a movie about the makings of Donald Trump, who many consider to be the most controversial, divisive, and litigious man in America. The former president has already threatened to sue the filmmakers, as has his friend, billionaire Dan Snyder, who helped finance the film, reportedly under the false impression that it depicted Trump in a purely positive light.

While the filmmakers believe the well-researched film to be a fair and balanced portrait, The Apprentice is nevertheless full of shocking scenes. Throughout its two-hour runtime, we see the former president taking diet pills, receiving liposuction and having scalp-reduction surgery, and, most incendiary of all, raping his ex-wife Ivana, as she alleged happened in a 1990 divorce deposition, according to one unconfirmed account. (She later denied her initial testimony, saying she felt “violated” but did not mean to be alleging rape “in a literal criminal sense.”)

“Listen, Trump threatens to sue the mailman, so I’m not surprised,” says journalist Gabriel Sherman, who wrote the script. In fact, Sherman says he finds the legal threats “sort of perversely satisfying.” That’s because the film presents Trump as we know him today to be largely a product of his relationship with his mentor, Roy Cohn, who taught the real estate scion three lessons that he has continued to live by: Always attack, deny everything, and never admit defeat.

“He’s basically just doing what Roy Cohn told him to do — he’s attacking,” Sherman explains. “I know how rigorously researched and solid the movie is, so I’m not worried from a legal perspective.”

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