‘The Apprentice’ Director Claims Trump Biopic Is ‘Not a Hit Piece,’ Accuses Hollywood of Censoring Film
The director of the upcoming Trump biopic The Apprentice has claimed the controversial movie is “not a hit piece” and isn’t even very “anti-Trump” — despite portraying the young Donald Trump as a rapist.
Ali Abbasi also accused Hollywood studios of artistic censorship in an interview with The Wrap at the Toronto International Film Festival, where the movie is screening ahead of its planned October 11 release in the U.S.
Abassi, who hails from Iran, said he didn’t imagine his movie about Trump would have so much trouble getting made.
“I thought – ‘Fuck Iran. Fuck the Islamic dictatorship.’ I thought, ‘I’ll make a movie in a free country,’” he told the outlet.
He revealed he approached the studios for financing six years ago.
“They said to me, ‘We would love to do this film, but if Trump wins, if the studio gets sold – they’ll come after us.’ Or they would say, ‘We don’t want 85 million consumers to hate us.’”
In the end, the financing was cobbled together from mostly overseas film companies, as well as some domestic ones. When it came to distribution, The Apprentice faced a similar round of rejection from the major studios and streamers. Eventually, the indie label Briarcliff Entertainment picked it up for domestic distribution.
“We’re here, yes, but I would call it a sort of censorship,” Abassi added.
In the end, he told The Wrap, the movie is not terribly anti-Trump.
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