The producers of the upcoming Donald Trump biopic The Apprentice have launched a Kickstarter campaign to boost the controversial film’s profile and tech — and keep it in theaters as long as possible.
Directed by Ali Abbasi, The Apprentice centers around the relationship between Trump (Sebastian Stan) and Roy Cohn (Jeremy Strong), the notorious prosecutor who mentored Trump in the dark arts of “deflection, trash-talking and tabloid ubiquity” (as Rolling Stone’s David Fear wrote in a review earlier this year). The Apprentice debuted at the 2024 Cannes Film Festival, where it received generally positive reviews, though it also shocked audiences with a scene in which Trump rapes his then-wife, Ivana (played by Maria Bakalova).
Following its Cannes premiere, Trump’s lawyers swiftly hit The Apprentice with a cease-and-desist letter, calling it “pure malicious defamation” that “belongs in a dumpster fire.” The producers defended the integrity of the film, calling it a “fair and balanced portrait of the former president.”
Currently, The Apprentice is slated to hit select theaters in the U.S. on Oct. 11. The new Kickstarter campaign aims to boost that effort and “keep the film in as many theaters for as long as possible.”
As of publication, the campaign has already raised over $35,000 of its stated $100,000 goal. The money raised will go to several different areas, including legal fees to fight the Trump campaign’s “attempts to suppress the film,” as well as support for screenings and publicity.
“Despite the integrity of the film and without even seeing it, Trump’s campaign sought to suppress it,” The Apprentice producer Dan Bekerman said in a statement. “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.”
While The Apprentice was well-received on the festival circuit, it struggled to find a major distributor in the U.S. (though its international rights were quickly scooped up). Reports at the time suggested major distributors and prominent indies (which are often owned by big studios and thus part of giant conglomerates) were wary of picking up the film, lest they upset Trump’s supporters and Trump himself — especially if he went on to win a second term as president.
“Any company who has a ‘for sale’ sign or that has the intention of merging [or] buying someone will be hesitant to do it, as there is a chance [Trump’s] regulators will be punitive if he’s elected,” one distribution exec told Variety in May.
Eventually, the indie distributor Briarcliff Entertainment stepped up to secure the U.S. rights to The Apprentice. And the launch of the Kickstarter campaign coincides with another development that could ease the film’s arrival in theaters next month: The production company Kinematics selling its stake in the film to Rich Spirit. Kinematics is owned by Dan Snyder, the billionaire Trump supporter (and Washington Commanders owner), who was reportedly furious with the movie and had the ability to block any sale. Kinematics said it decided to sell its stake in the film because of “creative differences.”
