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    Trump film “The Apprentice” finds distributor, will open before election

    By SHOOTNo Comments92 Views
    Julianne Forde, from left, Ruth Treacy, Maria Bakalova, director Ali Abbasi, Sebastian Stan, and Amy Baer pose for photographers upon arrival at the premiere of the film 'The Apprentice' at the 77th international film festival, Cannes, southern France, on May 20, 2024. (Photo by Scott A Garfitt/Invision/AP, File)

    By Jake Coyle, Film Writer

    NEW YORK (AP) --

    After struggling to drum up interest following its Cannes Film Festival premiere, “The Apprentice,” starring Sebastian Stan as a young Donald Trump, has found a distributor that plans to release the film shortly before the election in November.

    Briarcliff Entertainment will release “The Apprentice” on Oct. 11 in U.S. and Canadian theaters.

    Director Ali Abbasi, the Danish Iranian filmmaker, had prioritized getting “The Apprentice” into theaters before voters head to the polls. After larger studios and film distributors opted not to bid on the film, Abbasi also complained in early June on X that “for some reason certain power people in your country don’t want you to see it!!!”

    Part of what dampened interest in “The Apprentice” was the potential threat of legal action. After its Cannes premiere in May, Trump’s reelection campaign spokesperson, Steven Cheung, called the movie “pure fiction” and said the Trump team would file a lawsuit “to address the blatantly false assertions from these pretend filmmakers.”

    “The Apprentice” chronicles Trump’s rise to power in New York real estate under the tutelage of defense attorney Roy Cohn (played by Jeremy Strong). Late in the movie, Trump is depicted raping his wife, Ivana Trump (played by Maria Bakalova ). In Ivana Trump’s 1990 divorce deposition, she stated that Trump raped her. Trump denied the allegation and Ivana Trump later said she didn’t mean it literally, but rather that she had felt violated.

    Abbasi has argued Trump might not dislike the movie.

    “I would offer to go and meet him wherever he wants and talk about the context of the movie, have a screening and have a chat afterwards, if that’s interesting to anyone at the Trump campaign,” Abbasi said in May.

    A message sent to Trump’s campaign for comment was not immediately returned.

    Briarcliff Entertainment has released films including the 2022 documentary “Gabby Giffords Won’t Back Down” and the Liam Neeson thriller “Memory.” The indie distributor is run by Tom Ortenberg, who at Lionsgate helped released Michael Moore’s “Fahrenheit 9/11” and as chief executive of Open Road backed the best-picture winner “Spotlight.”

    Tags:Ali AbbasiBriarcliff EntertainmentSebastian StanThe Apprentice



    DirecTV calls off acquisition of rival Dish, possibly ending a yearslong pursuit

    Friday, November 22, 2024
    Dish Network satellite dishes are shown at an apartment complex in Palo Alto, Calif., Feb. 23, 2011. (AP Photo/Paul Sakuma, File)

    DirecTV is calling off its planned acquisition of rival Dish after the offer was rejected by bond holders at that company.

    The deal was reliant on Dish bond holders agreeing to trade in the debt they held for debt in the new company, a swap that would have cost them about $1.6 billion, collectively.

    The retreat by DirecTV this week may end a years-long effort by the company to acquire both Dish and Sling after it announced the bid in September.

    DirecTV was looking to acquire Dish TV and Sling TV from its owner EchoStar in a debt exchange transaction that included a payment of $1, plus the assumption of approximately $9.8 billion in debt. The deal was contingent on several factors, including regulatory approvals and bondholders writing off debt related to Dish.

    "While we believed a combination of DirecTV and Dish would have benefited all stakeholders, we have terminated the transaction because the proposed exchange terms were necessary to protect DirecTV's balance sheet and our operational flexibility," DirecTV CEO Bill Morrow said in a statement.

    The prospect of a DirecTV-Dish combo has long been rumored, and reported talks resurfaced over the years. And the two almost merged more than two decades ago — but the Federal Communications Commission blocked the deal valued at the time at $18.5 billion deal, citing antitrust concerns.

    The pay-for-TV market has shifted significantly since. As more and more consumers tune into online streaming platforms, demand for more traditional satellite entertainment continues to shrink.

    DirecTV says that it will continue to invest in next-generation streaming platforms and offer new packaging options while integrating content from live TV alongside direct-to-consumer... Read More

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