Ali Abbasi — the director of the Trump biopic The Apprentice — vented on social media Monday, expressing frustration over the movie’s lack of a distributor.
He added: “For some reason certain powerful people in your country don’t want you to see it!!!”
We have a new proposition for you. It’s not a sequel nor a remake. It’s called #The_Apprentice and for some reason certain powerful people in your country don’t want you to see it!!! https://t.co/EMoptrEqCP
— Ali Abbasi (@_aliabbasi_) June 3, 2024
The movie also did not win any awards at Cannes.
The Apprentice drew significant media attention at this year’s festival, especially for a scene depicting Trump raping his first wife, Ivana. The movie also portrays Trump undergoing plastic surgery and liposuction.
Ivana Trump herself denied that her then-husband ever raped her.
Following the Cannes premiere, Trump’s campaign threatened to sue the filmmakers.
Lawyers for Trump also sent a cease-and-desist letter to director Ali Abbasi and screenwriter Gabriel Sherman, warning them against seeking a distribution deal.
The legal action has negatively affected the movie’s commercial prospects.
The four major streaming services — Netflix, Amazon, Disney+, and Apple — have all declined to distribute the film, as have specialty theatrical labels Searchlight, Sony Pictures Classics, Focus, A24, HBO, and Lionsgate, according to a report from Puck.
