critically acclaimed donald trump biopic apprentice The movie the former president has repeatedly condemned will be released in a somewhat surprising place: Russia.
The film is written by a senior screenwriter vanity fair Journalist Gabriel Sherman, directed by Iranian-Danish filmmaker Ali Abbasi, will open on 800 screens across Russia on Friday. Moscow-based distributor Arna Media acquired local rights to the film from British sales agent Rocket Science last month and is currently handling the film’s release. Sources familiar with the film say the film will only need modest edits to reach the Russian market.
Russia’s issuance plans stand in stark contrast to what is reportedly true about Donald Trump’s cozy relationship with Russian President Vladimir Putin, who has sharply cut back on what he believes is not in his regime’s interests. Any artistic expression. Moscow has raided concerts and fined musicians who criticized the country’s war in Ukraine, put dissident filmmakers on wanted lists and censored books and art exhibitions.
Last month, journalist Bob Woodward reported that Trump had spoken to Putin multiple times since leaving the White House. Meanwhile, Trump threatens to sue manufacturers apprentice and described the film as “a cheap, slanderous, politically disgusting act of villainy.”
Trump said in a post on his social media platform Truth Social, “The sad thing is that the human scum, like those involved in this hopeless enterprise, can say and do whatever they want. , to harm political movements.
However, film critics took a different view. apprentice It premiered at the Cannes Film Festival in May to rave reviews and received an eight-minute standing ovation. Powerful work from the film’s main cast – Marvel star Sebastian Stan as young Donald; succession favorite Jeremy Strong brings all his passion as a method actor to the dark eccentricities of Roy Cohn; and borat 2 Maria Bakalova’s performance as the young and spirited Ivana Trump won in multiple categories at the 97th Academy Awards, making the film a front-runner for the Oscars.
However, the film had a rocky road to release in the United States — and in Russia as well.
Days after the French premiere, Trump’s lawyers filed a cease-and-desist letter threatening to sue the film’s producers and any future distributors. apprentice. Around the same time, reports surfaced that the film’s major financier Kinematics, founded by producer Mark Rapaport, the son-in-law of billionaire and prominent Trump donor Dan Snyder ) objected to the film’s pivotal scene of rape by young Donald.
What ensued was a protracted battle over the film’s final cut, and the risk of retaliation from a potential Trump re-election, leading all major U.S. studios and streamers to abandon buying the film for distribution. In the end, Kinematics reached a last-minute deal with independent distributor Briarcliff Entertainment and startup Rich Spirit, clearing the way for the film to be released in North America on October 11. in the hands of the company.
When it was released in Russia, the producers initially received requests to remove the rape scene entirely. Abbasi is said to have had a heated debate over the film’s importance, eventually reaching a compromise. The final Russian cut restored the version of the attack scene shown at the Cannes premiere, rather than the longer, more candid account of Abbasi’s final cut.
Russian publishers will jump at the chance to try distribution apprentice Perhaps this is not surprising. The country has been starved of Hollywood films since studios began boycotting the Russian market in early 2022 following Moscow’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine.
In North America, apprentice It opened last month with a box office of $1.6 million in its opening weekend, below expectations. Domestic figures have since grown to approximately $3.9 million, with a global total of $12 million. The film will be released on Friday, November 1, on premium video-on-demand platforms such as Apple TV, Prime Video, and Vudu.
“We’re very pleased with the numbers,” said executive producer James Shani. “From the outset, we anticipated the film would be a slow-burner through awards season and beyond.”
Shani also said apprenticeThe film was forced to abandon several international markets due to censorship issues, and global box office revenue fell slightly. Abbasi and his producers negotiated back and forth with film regulators in India, Saudi Arabia and Singapore, eventually concluding that the changes required by those markets were beyond their scope. Some of the proposed cuts are consistent with the policies of film regulators in Saudi Arabia, India and Singapore – all conservative and picky countries in their own way. But eventually it became clear apprentice The team said regulators took tougher measures than usual because of the film’s high-profile subject, who could soon return to the U.S. presidency.
“We think because of Trump’s presence they are being more demanding than usual and trying to play it safer,” Shani said.
Scott Roxborough contributed to this report from Germany.
