The Donald Trump story is being told in The Apprentice, but there’s a question of who the film’s aimed at. Its producer has an answer. Sort of.
Since its debut at the Cannes Film Festival earlier this year, the movie The Apprentice has been an almost-inevitable magnet for controversy. The film follows Donald Trump and his actions in the 1980s as he was building up his empire. Directed by Ali Abbasi, it’s produced by Dan Bekerman and Amy Baer, and the pair have taken to Reddit to answer questions about the movie.
The one asked by more than one person, though, was who The Apprentice is actually for. Donald Trump’s supporters aren’t going to be in a rush to watch it, and those opposed to Trump are far from guaranteed to want to spend a couple of hours sitting through his story.
Dan Bekerman addressed this point on Reddit, arguing “it’s a good question without an obvious answer.”
“I know I sound very earnest about this but I just choose to believe that if you make something with real insights into the human condition it’s going to be a flame that will attract. It’s not as simple as saying that Trump haters are the audience, because the truth is Donald, at least in the early part of the movie, is not the cartoon villain that exists in many minds. A transformation occurs to be sure, and that may give some satisfaction to that audience, but I still think that’s not the main reason to see it.”
Bekerman added that, “I think MAGA will be surprised when they see it. Not that it panders to them, it definitely doesn’t, but I think the movie looks at the core appeal of Trump that might resonate with them but then also explores the other side of the ledger in a way that’s hard to look away from”.
The Apprentice has struggled to find US distribution, but has had no such problems in the UK, with Studiocanal swiftly snapping it up. The film is now set for release over here on 18th October 2024.
The full Reddit AMA can be found here.
