Not everybody makes enough of an impact in life to where they can get a film made about themselves. If you do reach that point, it means you’ve either done something really well or something horribly wrong. In the case of Donald Trump well, clearly there are people on both sides of that spectrum who would happily advocate for a film about him. As it turns out, one of those films exists and was just shown at the Cannes Film Festival.
Following it’s premiere, the filmmakers are now being threatened with a lawsuit by the campaign of a criminal defendant in an ongoing fraud case.
“The Apprentice” was the name of a former reality show hosted by “The Donald” on NBC. It also happens to be the name of a biopic that depicts Trump’s (Sebastian Stan) formative years, building his empire and working with Roy Cohn (played in the film by “Succession” star Jeremy Strong). By all accounts, the film is not exactly a flattering portrayal of the only President of the United States to be impeached twice. In fact, it’s so unflattering that Trump Campaign spokesperson Steven Cheung says a lawsuit will be filed in response to the movie.
“This garbage is pure fiction,” Cheung says, comparing it to the “illegal Biden Trials.” The film features Trump downing amphetamines, having surgery on a bald spot, and forcing himself onto his wife. So it kind of makes sense his people wouldn’t have a positive opinion of the movie.
Directed by Ali Abbasi and written by Gabriel Sherman, if the Trump campaign did want to try and sue them for libel, they’d have to prove the movie was maliciously untruthful. So if the production had good reason to believe what they were writing was true, it’s going to be an uphill battle for Trump and co. But at the same time, who wouldn’t want the Winter Soldier themselves portraying them in a movie? (Well, maybe Tommy Lee.)
“The Apprentice” has not found a distributor in the US. The campaign has only threatened to file a lawsuit, they haven’t actually proceeded with one. We’ll have to see which one happens first!
