Happy post-conviction day? Yesterday, Donald Trump became the first former American President to be convicted of felony crimes as a jury found him guilty on all 34 charges in his scheme to influence the 2016 election with his hush-money payments to porn star Stormy Daniels who said the two engaged in sex while he was married to his current wife (oh, and he has three more criminal cases to deal with too). Trump has also been in the news for the film, “The Apprentice,” starring Sebastian Stan, which premiered at the recent Cannes Film Festival to solid reviews.
The film stars Stan (known for playing The Winter Soldier in the Marvel films), as a young Donald Trump, leaning the ropes of duplicity, deceit and cons from the notorious Republican trickster Roy Cohn (played by “Succession” star Jeremy Strong). Directed by acclaimed Iranian-Danish filmmaker Ali Abbasi (episodes of HBO’s “The Last of Us” and “Border” (2016), the film was met with strong reviews (read ours here) but made headlines because of the rape scene in it (Trump violently throws his then-wife Ivana, played by Maria Bakalova, to the ground and proceeds to have nonconsensual sex with her; which Ivana alleged during their ’90s divorce trial, though she later disavowed the allegation).
While it’s unclear if this scene, which set off a firestorm in the media, is the issue—and the Trump campaign vows to sue the filmmakers, but what else is new?—a new report in Puck News suggests that no one wants to buy the film and all the major streamers have passed on it.
READ MORE: ‘The Apprentice’ Review: Sebastian Stan as Donald Trump? It Works! [Cannes]
According to Puck, which notes that all the controversy has given the film a ton of free press, all three of the significant U.S. streaming services, Netflix, Apple, and Amazon, have all essentially passed on the film so far.
Puck writes, “The three major U.S.-based streaming services—all of which, remember, spend tens of millions of dollars a year courting Oscar nominations—are, at least right now, declining to engage seriously on the movie.”
Puck notes that Netflix, in particular, spent a ton of money on the 2023 Cannes picture “May December” with Julianne Moore and Natalie Portman, currently has no plans to bid on the film, and neither does Disney’s Searchlight specialty division, Universal’s Focus Features label, A24, and Lionsgate—all of whom seem like they would be viable candidates for the movie. HBO, which often buys films like this as TV movies that can enter the Emmy or Golden Globes Award races, apparently has no plans to bid on it either.
Puck suggests all of Hollywood is filled with “wusses” who are too cowardly to engage in the controversy around the film, but also notes that the reviews are strong but not amazing (78% on Rotten Tomatoes currently). Unwelcome controversy, including potential lawsuits, coupled with a film that doesn’t seem to have many strong Oscar chances, perhaps a Best Supporting nod for Jeremy Strong, might mean a movie like this could be relegated to a much smaller arthouse life via IFC, Magnolia or some smaller specialty division, time will tell.
As for the potential lawsuits, though, they might not amount to much. As Puck aptly writes, “At this point, we know Trump’s threats and lawsuits never actually go anywhere; it’s all for show, to perpetuate an image of strength and aggression.”
“The Apprentice” screenwriter and journalist Gabriel Sherman has the final word, writing, “It would be tragic if corporate distributors were too afraid to release a powerful film about the origins of our zero-sum, win-at-all-costs culture,” he wrote in an email to the news outlet. “Art is meant to provoke. It’s what storytellers do.”
Puck tends to be a little bit sensationalist, but for what it’s worth, Variety has written a similar piece, asking if Hollywood is too afraid to release the movie.
