Shortly after the film on the origins of Donald Trump by Ali Abbasi The Apprentice had its world premiere in Cannes, Trump's legal team sent a cease-and-desist letter to the filmmakers.
But as the film finally opens in U.S. theaters on Friday, via Briarcliff Entertainment and Tom Ortenberg's Rich Spirit, Trump's team appears to have remained relatively quiet about the project.
Although Trump campaign spokesman Steven Cheung denounced the film in a statement, the former president has reportedly made no new legal threats against the film or made any headline-grabbing statements. Social media or at its events.
When asked about the possibility of future threats from Trump The ApprenticeAt the New York premiere, just over a block away from Trump Tower, director Ali Abbasi stood by his film and doubted Trump's team would sue.
“I doubt they have the balls [to come after the film]“Abbasi said The Hollywood journalist. “I don't think so, because they know we're right. They know there is nothing to be reported for. They know things are accurate and double, triple, quadruple checked journalistically and legally. There's nothing there, you know.”
Yet he was defiant about future threats: “I mean, step up. This is what I tell them.
The screening, at the DGA Theater in New York, was attended by stars Sebastian Stan, Jeremy Strong and Maria Bakalova; the writer Gabriel Sherman; producer Daniel Bekerman; and executive producer Amy Baer and even former Trump lawyer Michael Cohen, who walked the red carpet and spoke to the media.
Cohen, who said THR the fact that he was invited by his longtime acquaintance Sherman and said he was curious to see the film offered some insight into how Trump might react publicly to the film.
“It all depends on… what the reviews are. If the reviews lash out at him, he will respond,” Cohen said THR. “You know, what he doesn't want to do is fuel the conversation about something he didn't want released. The more he talks about it, the more he exposes the film and the more people will obviously want to see it. As Donald will always tell you, sometimes bad press is good press.
The film focuses on the relationship between Trump (Stan) and New York power broker Roy Cohn (Strong), when Trump was an up-and-coming real estate mogul in the 1970s and 1980s, showing how Cohn turned Trump into the man he is today.
And Cohen said he “absolutely” saw the effects of Cohn's influence during his time working for Trump.
“The loyalty you had to provide was something you didn't see in other companies,” Cohen said. “I was asked and I gave it. And that's something I know Roy Cohn told him.
Although the film will be released less than a month before the 2024 election, the filmmakers argue that it is not a political blockbuster and instead offers a nuanced portrait of the Republican presidential candidate's early career.
But when asked what they wanted voters to take away from the film, Bekerman said he hoped it would give them a “fresh perspective.”
“I really hope that this film offers a new perspective on things that people have kind of turned their brains off because they've formed a very hard opinion one way or another, and they kind of stop really looking at it . I think this film offers a new way of looking at it, and the way we look at these characters is really a humanistic lens that we look through,” he said. THR. “Connecting with the characters as human beings, as Ali directed them, as the actors gave the characters the respect they deserved and didn't just portray them as cartoons as they are, frankly, mostly portrayed in most media, these days, there's a new potential for a new perspective, and I think that's valuable at any time, especially now.”
Abbasi, for his part, urged people to “look at it with an open mind”.
And while he emphasized the entertainment factor of the film more than its influence on the election, he insisted that it was the right time to do it.
“I think it's a transition. I think it's an experience. I think it's actually pretty funny. I love the soundtrack. There are extraordinary shows. So not everything is about Donald Trump for or against,” he said. “It comes before the elections, because this is the biggest event. And I would be crazy if I said, “Oh, I have the ability to do this and not do this,” because this is mostly about the character running for president. And I won't tell you how to vote. But if you're wondering what kind of character he is, if you're wondering how he got to where he is, we have some answers for you.”