The countdown is on to November’s presidential election, but the race already has an October surprise in store — the release of a controversial biopic about Donald Trump.
“The Apprentice” — chronicling the formative years of the real estate tycoon, before he made headlines with reality TV fame and polarizing politics — is scheduled to hit theaters Oct. 11.
Helmed by Iranian-Danish director Ali Abbasi and written by journalist Gabriel Sherman, the film stars Marvel heartthrob Sebastian Stan as a young Trump in the ’70 and ’80s, and “Succession” star Jeremy Strong as his early mentor Roy Cohn.
Bulgarian actress Maria Bakalova takes on the role of Trump’s first wife, Ivana, who alleged in her 1990 divorce deposition that he once raped her during their marriage. The film dramatizes that alleged incident, which Trump has denied.
According to Variety, pro-Trump billionaire Dan Snyder objected to the film’s depiction of his friend and made every attempt to block it — even after originally financing the movie through the Kinematics film company.
Following “The Apprentice” premiering at the 77th Cannes Film Festival in May, Trump spokesman Steven Cheung ripped the movie, calling it “pure malicious defamation,” while the campaign issued legal threats to potential distributors.
But the show has gone on, thanks to a partnership with California-based independent distributor Briarcliff Entertainment.
“Soooo excited to show the movie to its home audience!!! America here we come,” Abbasi wrote in a Friday social media post.
Described as “an exploration of power and ambition set in a world of corruption and deceit,” the film takes its title from the wildly popular NBC reality show that catapulted Trump into mainstream pop culture.
As of Friday evening, “The Apprentice” had already earned a 77% critics score on Rotten Tomatoes.