It’s official: Donald Trump — or at least a fictionalized version of him — is heading to Cannes.
The prestigious French film festival unveiled its 2024 official film selection Thursday in Paris, and Iranian-Danish filmmaker Ali Abassi’s The Apprentice was among the titles revealed for the event’s main competition.
The biographical drama stars Sebastian Stan as Trump and explores his career as an aspiring real estate tycoon in the New York City of the 1970s and 1980s. The film is described as a mentor-protégé narrative that documents the start of an American dynasty and tackles themes including power, corruption, and deception. It delves into the relationship between Trump and Roy Cohn, the New York City prosecutor oft-remembered for working with Senator Joseph McCarthy during the Second Red Scare.
The movie’s official logline reads: “The Apprentice is a dive into the underbelly of the American empire. It charts a young Donald Trump’s ascent to power through a Faustian deal with the influential right-wing lawyer and political fixer Roy Cohn.”
Adding to the film’s must-watch buzziness, Succession star Jeremy Strong appears opposite Stan in the co-starring role of Cohn. And it gets better: Maria Bakalova, unforgettable for her breakthrough performance in Borat Subsequent Moviefilm, plays Ivana Trump. Veteran character actor Martin Donovan is Donald’s father Fred Trump.
The movie’s producers’ released a still giving a first look at the film on Thursday, following the Cannes announcement. The image shows an intense Strong staring at a spooked-looking young Trump.
Principle photography for The Apprentice began in November 2023 and only wrapped on Jan. 28, 2024, suggesting a sprint through post-production to be ready to premiere in Cannes in May. Many in the industry had thought the film was more likely to launch at the Venice or Toronto film festivals in the fall.
Born…
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