Topline

Former President Donald Trump called the biopic “The Apprentice,” which hit theaters over the weekend and chronicles Trump's rise to real estate stardom in 1970s New York, a “politically disgusting hatchet” after its poor box office success.

Important facts

What else did Trump say about “the apprentice”?

Trump campaign spokesman Steven Cheung threatened to sue the filmmakers ahead of its premiere at the Cannes Film Festival in May, claiming the film “sensational lies.” Abbasi responded at a press conference in Cannes: “Everyone talks about him suing a lot of people – but they don't talk about his success rate, you know?” Abbasi also offered to show the film for Trump and said he thought it would work The film is less about Trump and more about a confrontation with power in the United States.

How did “The Apprentice” do at the box office?

The film had a difficult opening weekend, grossing just over $1.5 million and finishing in tenth place. The film had a dismal average per-theater gross of $908, the lowest of any film opening that weekend and the lowest average in the top 10. The opening gross was at the low end of Variety's predictions, suggesting that He could earn between $1 million and $3 million in the first weekend. The film was produced on a budget of $16 million. Despite the poor performance, the film fared better with critics: it achieved a score of 78% on Rotten Tomatoes and an audience rating of 86%, with many critics praising the performances of Sebastian Stan as Trump and Jeremy Strong as his former lawyer Roy Cohn .

Important background

The film received an eight-minute standing ovation at Cannes, where it elicited audible gasps from the audience for a scene in which Trump undergoes liposuction and another in which Trump throws his ex-wife Ivana to the ground in a non-consensual manner Sex has sex with her. The scene may have been a reference to a claim Ivana Trump made in a 1989 divorce statement that Donald Trump once raped her, but she later retracted that claim in a 1993 statement, saying she felt ” “hurt”, but did not want her to use it. The word “rape” should be “interpreted in a literal or criminal sense”. Trump reportedly denied the rape allegation in 1993. The film struggled for months to find a distributor after its Cannes premiere until Briarcliff Entertainment secured the rights for a theatrical release in August. The film reportedly angered billionaire investor Dan Snyder, the former owner of the Washington Commanders, who donated money to the film believing it would be a flattering portrayal of Trump, Variety reported.

Further reading

Clown vs. Clown: 'Terrifier 3' Shows Teeth With Over $18M While 'Joker 2' Posts Record Drop For DC Character Photo; “Darlings Shriek” Awards Season – Sunday Box Office (Deadline)

'The Apprentice' filmmakers deny Trump's 'malicious defamation' allegations (Forbes)

Why did “The Apprentice” bomb? Maybe because the scariest thing about Donald Trump is off-screen (Variety)