A li Abbasi’s headline-generating The Apprentice, a deep dive into the formative years of once and future U.S. President Donald Trump, overcame the odds to make it to theatres.

Lauded at the Cannes Film Festival in May, the Canada/Denmark/Ireland copro – produced by Toronto’s Scythia Films, Dublin’s Tailored Films and Copenhagen’s Profile Pictures – attracted the wrath of Trump’s inner circle and almost failed to secure U.S. distribution as a result. But the film’s team persevered with a theatrical launch on Oct. 11, ahead of the U.S. election on Nov. 5.

Reflecting on the rollercoaster ride, producer Daniel Bekerman of Scythia Films says he is proud that the film is not the hatchet job some anticipated. “It would have been so tempting for a director to imprint their own political values, but that would have cheapened the film,” he says. “Ali’s unflinching eye gives space for audiences to make their own judgments.”

The premise of the film sees a fictional Trump (Sebastian Stan) as the titular apprentice, an inversion of his role selecting young acolytes on NBC’s long-running reality series of the same name. His mentor is lawyer Roy Cohn, portrayed by scene-stealer Jeremy Strong, who instills the young Trump with a win-at-all-costs mentality. While the story pivots on this dynamic, Bekerman says the real power of the film is that “it raises deep questions about all of us: What does winning mean? What price is too much to pay for success?”

Bekerman says about 60% of The Apprentice‘s US$16 million budget came from territories outside of North America. The film grossed close to US$12 million at the global box office at press time, and Bekerman says the post-theatrical release, which includes premium VOD rentals and streaming, has continued to derive revenue from multiple territories.

The film’s problems securing distribution in the U.S. are well-documented. After being feted in Cannes, cease and desist letters started to arrive from Trump’s lawyers. Despite the positive critical response, “so many distributors were put off,” says Bekerman.

At the eleventh hour, Briarcliff Entertainment stepped in and secured 1,500 screens in the U.S. More or less concurrently, Bekerman launched a Kickstarter campaign, which raised in excess of US$100,000 for marketing. “That helped create a relationship with our audience that we wouldn’t have had otherwise,” he says. “That’s interesting for the future of film distribution.”

The film has had a lukewarm outing at the U.S. box office, passing the US$3 million mark in November. Bekerman is philosophical about that. There was always a chance Trump supporters would stay away, he acknowledges, while proximity to the election meant “some people were just saturated with images of Trump.”

Internationally, robust performances in the U.K. and France have pushed the film towards US$8 million (excluding the U.S.).

Canada has also been a bright spot. Andrew Frank, co-president of distributor Mongrel Media, was an early supporter. “It will come off screen at $600,000, which is a strong number,” he says. “And the results on premium VOD were staggering. We hit our target in under a week. Looking ahead, we have Paramount+ as our TV partner.”

Notwithstanding the controversy around the film, Frank says partnering on The Apprentice has been “a phenomenal experience” overall. “We like original, authentic, brave storytelling. I can’t think of a more perfect film to be in our catalogue.”

Tailored Films’ Ruth Treacy endorses this sentiment. Also a fan of Abbasi’s work, she says, “We’ve been taking steps towards brave and edgier filmmaking. We certainly have no plans to shy away from difficult topics like this.”

Treacy says she believes the international copro model, combined with Abbasi’s approach, gave the film “an outsider perspective and perhaps a willingness to take more risks with the material.”

Echoing Bekerman, she says one of the most intriguing aspects of the film is that it is possible to empathize with Trump, even if you don’t share his world view: “He had difficulties. It’s possible to relate to the human issues he faced.”

An awards campaign is underway, though whether awards arbiters will prove any braver than U.S. distributors is moot. There isn’t a lot of money to support it, says Bekerman, but “we believe our movie, our actors and everyone else involved is deserving of recognition.”

Whether or not awards flow, Bekerman says he believes The Apprentice will prove a durable addition to the cinematic canon. “We’re about to see the emergence of a new political narrative. It will be pervasive, and a lot of power players in society will gravitate towards it,” he says. “As that narrative takes shape, this movie will provide an independent perspective.”

Image courtesy of Mongrel Media

This story originally appeared in Playback‘s 2024 Winter issue