Maria Bakalova and Sebastian Stan star in The Apprentice. Photo: Apprentice Productions Ontario Inc
Maria Bakalova and Sebastian Stan star in The Apprentice. Photo: Apprentice Productions Ontario Inc
Maria Bakalova and Sebastian Stan star in The Apprentice. Photo: Apprentice Productions Ontario Inc
Maria Bakalova and Sebastian Stan star in The Apprentice. Photo: Apprentice Productions Ontario Inc

The Apprentice: Controversial Donald Trump biopic is coming to UAE cinemas


Evelyn Lau
  • English
  • Arabic

The Apprentice, the biopic that earned an eight-minute standing ovation at Cannes, is set to hit UAE cinemas on October 16.

The controversial film, which will be distributed in the GCC by Front Row Filmed Entertainment, shines a light on the early rise of Donald Trump as a businessman in 1980s New York, when he worked for his father's real estate firm.

Directed by Iranian-Danish filmmaker Ali Abbasi, the film stars Sebastian Stan – best known for his role in the Marvel Cinematic Universe – as Trump, while Maria Bakalova, the Oscar-nominated star of Borat Subsequent Moviefilm, plays his wife Ivana.

The movie was written by journalist Gabriel Sherman, who profiled Trump in various magazines and publications over the years.

The film premiered at the 77th Cannes Film Festival on May 20 and has received mixed reviews. The National’s James Mottram, who attended the screening, gave it three out of five stars. He praised the film's intrigue but noted it loses momentum in the second half.

What was Trump’s response to the movie?

After the film's debut at Cannes, Trump’s legal team said they would be suing. “We will be filing a lawsuit to address the blatantly false assertions from these pretend filmmakers,” Trump's campaign chief spokesperson Steven Cheung said.

“This garbage is pure fiction which sensationalises lies that have been long debunked. As with the illegal Biden Trials, this is election interference by Hollywood elites, who know that president Trump will retake the White House and beat their candidate of choice because nothing they have done has worked.

“This ‘film’ is pure malicious defamation, should not see the light of day, and doesn’t even deserve a place in the straight-to-DVD section of a bargain bin at a soon-to-be-closed discount movie store, it belongs in a dumpster fire.”

Jeremy Strong and Sebastian Stan in The Apprentice. Photo: Apprentice Productions Ontario Inc
Jeremy Strong and Sebastian Stan in The Apprentice. Photo: Apprentice Productions Ontario Inc

A few days later, Abbasi responded to Trump's threats. “Everybody talks about him suing a lot of people – they don’t talk about his success rate though, you know?” Abbasi said at a press conference. He even offered to meet with Trump and screen the film for him.

"I don’t necessarily think that this is a movie he would dislike. I don’t necessarily think he would like it. I think he would be surprised," he said. "Like I’ve said before, 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.”

Turning to Kickstarter

The Apprentice struggled to find a distributor after Cannes because of the subject matter, before eventually finding a home with Briarcliff Entertainment.

Earlier this month, it launched a Kickstarter to raise $100,000 to expand the film's distribution potential to be seen by as many people as possible for as long as possible. It surpassed its goal within a day and has now expanded its target to $350,000.

UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
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Wednesday's results

Finland 3-0 Armenia
Faroes Islands 1-0 Malta
Sweden 1-1 Spain
Gibraltar 2-3 Georgia
Romania 1-1 Norway
Greece 2-1 Bosnia and Herzegovina
Liechtenstein 0-5 Italy
Switzerland 2-0 Rep of Ireland
Israel 3-1 Latvia

The National Archives, Abu Dhabi

Founded over 50 years ago, the National Archives collects valuable historical material relating to the UAE, and is the oldest and richest archive relating to the Arabian Gulf.

Much of the material can be viewed on line at the Arabian Gulf Digital Archive - https://www.agda.ae/en

MATCH INFO

Fixture: Thailand v UAE, Tuesday, 4pm (UAE)

TV: Abu Dhabi Sports

Six large-scale objects on show
  • Concrete wall and windows from the now demolished Robin Hood Gardens housing estate in Poplar
  • The 17th Century Agra Colonnade, from the bathhouse of the fort of Agra in India
  • A stagecloth for The Ballet Russes that is 10m high – the largest Picasso in the world
  • Frank Lloyd Wright’s 1930s Kaufmann Office
  • A full-scale Frankfurt Kitchen designed by Margarete Schütte-Lihotzky, which transformed kitchen design in the 20th century
  • Torrijos Palace dome
ESSENTIALS

The flights

Emirates flies from Dubai to Phnom Penh via Yangon from Dh2,700 return including taxes. Cambodia Bayon Airlines and Cambodia Angkor Air offer return flights from Phnom Penh to Siem Reap from Dh250 return including taxes. The flight takes about 45 minutes.

The hotels

Rooms at the Raffles Le Royal in Phnom Penh cost from $225 (Dh826) per night including taxes. Rooms at the Grand Hotel d'Angkor cost from $261 (Dh960) per night including taxes.

The tours

A cyclo architecture tour of Phnom Penh costs from $20 (Dh75) per person for about three hours, with Khmer Architecture Tours. Tailor-made tours of all of Cambodia, or sites like Angkor alone, can be arranged by About Asia Travel. Emirates Holidays also offers packages. 

The%C2%A0specs%20
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Porsche Macan T: The Specs

Engine: 2.0-litre 4-cyl turbo 

Power: 265hp from 5,000-6,500rpm 

Torque: 400Nm from 1,800-4,500rpm 

Transmission: 7-speed dual-clutch auto 

Speed: 0-100kph in 6.2sec 

Top speed: 232kph 

Fuel consumption: 10.7L/100km 

On sale: May or June 

Price: From Dh259,900  

What is graphene?

Graphene is extracted from graphite and is made up of pure carbon.

It is 200 times more resistant than steel and five times lighter than aluminum.

It conducts electricity better than any other material at room temperature.

It is thought that graphene could boost the useful life of batteries by 10 per cent.

Graphene can also detect cancer cells in the early stages of the disease.

The material was first discovered when Andre Geim and Konstantin Novoselov were 'playing' with graphite at the University of Manchester in 2004.

SERIE A FIXTURES

Friday Sassuolo v Benevento (Kick-off 11.45pm)

Saturday Crotone v Spezia (6pm), Torino v Udinese (9pm), Lazio v Verona (11.45pm)

Sunday Cagliari v Inter Milan (3.30pm), Atalanta v Fiorentina (6pm), Napoli v Sampdoria (6pm), Bologna v Roma (6pm), Genoa v Juventus (9pm), AC Milan v Parma (11.45pm)

Engine: 80 kWh four-wheel-drive

Transmission: eight-speed automatic

Power: 402bhp

Torque: 760Nm

Price: From Dh280,000

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%3Cp%3EFirst%20ODI%20-%20Sunday%2C%20June%204%20%0D%3Cbr%3ESecond%20ODI%20-%20Tuesday%2C%20June%206%20%0D%3Cbr%3EThird%20ODI%20-%20Friday%2C%20June%209%26nbsp%3B%3C%2Fp%3E%0A%3Cp%3EMatches%20at%20Sharjah%20Cricket%20Stadium.%20All%20games%20start%20at%204.30pm%0D%3Cbr%3E%0D%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3EUAE%20squad%3C%2Fstrong%3E%0D%3Cbr%3EMuhammad%20Waseem%20(captain)%2C%20Aayan%20Khan%2C%20Adithya%20Shetty%2C%20Ali%20Naseer%2C%20Ansh%20Tandon%2C%20Aryansh%20Sharma%2C%20Asif%20Khan%2C%20Basil%20Hameed%2C%20Ethan%20D%E2%80%99Souza%2C%20Fahad%20Nawaz%2C%20Jonathan%20Figy%2C%20Junaid%20Siddique%2C%20Karthik%20Meiyappan%2C%20Lovepreet%20Singh%2C%20Matiullah%2C%20Mohammed%20Faraazuddin%2C%20Muhammad%20Jawadullah%2C%20Rameez%20Shahzad%2C%20Rohan%20Mustafa%2C%20Sanchit%20Sharma%2C%20Vriitya%20Aravind%2C%20Zahoor%20Khan%0D%3C%2Fp%3E%0A
2025 Fifa Club World Cup groups

Group A: Palmeiras, Porto, Al Ahly, Inter Miami.

Group B: Paris Saint-Germain, Atletico Madrid, Botafogo, Seattle.

Group C: Bayern Munich, Auckland City, Boca Juniors, Benfica.

Group D: Flamengo, ES Tunis, Chelsea, Leon.

Group E: River Plate, Urawa, Monterrey, Inter Milan.

Group F: Fluminense, Borussia Dortmund, Ulsan, Mamelodi Sundowns.

Group G: Manchester City, Wydad, Al Ain, Juventus.

Group H: Real Madrid, Al Hilal, Pachuca, Salzburg.

Updated: September 15, 2024, 7:51 AM`