What is Known About the Donald Trump Movie Premiering at Cannes?

Six months before the November presidential elections in the United States, and amid his first trial, convicted of falsifying accounting documents, Donald Trump becomes the focus of an unofficial biopic.

Directed by Iranian-Danish filmmaker Ali Abbasi, the film will premiere at the Cannes Film Festival, which runs from May 14 to 25.

The movie, called The Apprentice, chronicles Trump’s early steps when he began his career in New York real estate during the 1970s and 80s.

However, the core of the film appears to be Trump’s relationship with his mentor, lawyer Roy Cohn, who is also known for being a key figure in McCarthyist circles, recognized as the right-hand man of Senator Joseph McCarthy. During the 1950s, McCarthy led the “witch hunt” against anyone who was or appeared to be a communist. Cohn was the mastermind behind that persecution, and his influence is undeniable in Trump’s thought and governance model.

The Apprentice runs for approximately two hours and marks the director’s first foray into Hollywood. Ali Abbasi has previously won awards at the Cannes Film Festival for his films Holy Spider (2022) and Border (2018). The screenplay was written by Gabriel Shepard, who also authored the biography of Fox News founder Roger Ailes.

The character of Trump will be played by Sebastian Stan, known for his role as Bucky Barnes/Winter Soldier in the Marvel franchise. Roy Cohn will be portrayed by Jeremy Strong, who also plays a lawyer in the successful series Succession. Trump’s wife, Ivana Trump, will be played by actress Maria Bakalova.

Trump’s relationship with cinema, television, and the media is not new. Besides movies where he is a character, he made cameos in Woody Allen’s Celebrity and the second part of the comedy Home Alone. In fact, the name of the movie (The Apprentice) is derived from a reality show hosted by Trump himself from 2004 to 2017, where various contestants competed to work alongside the tycoon.