عربي English Türkçe اردو فارسى
Logo
Latest News
Entertainment

Election Year Trump Biopic ‘The Apprentice’ Premieres at Cannes 

Director Ali Abbasi poses close to photographers on the red carpet during arrivals for the screening of the film "The Apprentice" in competition at the 77th Cannes Film Festival in Cannes, France, May 20, 2024. (Reuters)
Director Ali Abbasi poses close to photographers on the red carpet during arrivals for the screening of the film "The Apprentice" in competition at the 77th Cannes Film Festival in Cannes, France, May 20, 2024. (Reuters)
TT
TT

Election Year Trump Biopic ‘The Apprentice’ Premieres at Cannes 

Director Ali Abbasi poses close to photographers on the red carpet during arrivals for the screening of the film "The Apprentice" in competition at the 77th Cannes Film Festival in Cannes, France, May 20, 2024. (Reuters)
Director Ali Abbasi poses close to photographers on the red carpet during arrivals for the screening of the film "The Apprentice" in competition at the 77th Cannes Film Festival in Cannes, France, May 20, 2024. (Reuters)

"The Apprentice", Iran-born director Ali Abbasi's much-anticipated drama of a young Donald Trump's ascendancy as a New York real estate mogul, premiered at the Cannes Film Festival on Monday.

Part of the pull of the film is its timing, as Trump, now 77, looks to win another term as US president in November.

The film shares its title with the reality show that helped turn Trump into a household name.

Sebastian Stan, who made his name in the Captain America trilogy as the Winter Soldier, morphs into Trump, from his early stages as an upstart working for his father's business to a brazen, self-centered tycoon.

The story focuses on Trump's time under the tutelage of Roy Cohn, a political fixer best known for his involvement in Senator Joseph McCarthy's anti-communist scare campaigns of the 1950s and portrayed by "Succession's" Jeremy Strong.

His three rules for success, which Trump later takes credit for while speaking with the writer of his business advice book "The Art of the Deal", are prescient of his traits in office: deny everything, always be on the attack and never admit defeat.

Abbasi is known for his eclectic film repertoire, including 2022's Cannes entry "Holy Spider" about the killings of sex workers in Iran and "Border", a fantasy love story in Sweden.

Critics were mixed, praising for Stan and Strong while seeing the film's basis in actual events as a limitation.

"Sebastian Stan Plays Donald Trump in a Docudrama That Nails Everything About Him but His Mystery," read the headline for entertainment website Variety, while trade publication IndieWire pointed out that the film "can't get around the fact that Trump is too base and pathological to be of much dramatic interest".

Most Viewed

 
 
Entertainment

Eminem Brings Taylor Swift's Historic Reign at No. 1 to an End, Stevie Wonder's Record Stays Intact

Eminem performs at the Bonnaroo Music and Arts Festival on June 9, 2018, left, and Taylor Swift performs at Wembley Stadium in London as part of her Eras Tour on June 21, 2024. (AP Photo)
Eminem performs at the Bonnaroo Music and Arts Festival on June 9, 2018, left, and Taylor Swift performs at Wembley Stadium in London as part of her Eras Tour on June 21, 2024. (AP Photo)
TT
TT

Eminem Brings Taylor Swift's Historic Reign at No. 1 to an End, Stevie Wonder's Record Stays Intact

Eminem performs at the Bonnaroo Music and Arts Festival on June 9, 2018, left, and Taylor Swift performs at Wembley Stadium in London as part of her Eras Tour on June 21, 2024. (AP Photo)
Eminem performs at the Bonnaroo Music and Arts Festival on June 9, 2018, left, and Taylor Swift performs at Wembley Stadium in London as part of her Eras Tour on June 21, 2024. (AP Photo)

Eminem's latest album, “The Death of Slim Shady (Coup de Grâce),” has debuted at No. 1 on the Billboard 200, unseating Taylor Swift's "The Tortured Poets Department" after 12 weeks.
In its first week, “The Tortured Poets Department” hit 891.34 million album streams stateside, according to Luminate, the biggest streaming week for an album in history, The Associated Press said.
Swift's album debuted at No. 1 in April and held the top spot for three months. She is the only woman to have done so; Swift beat the previous record held by Whitney Houston's 1987 album, “Whitney.” It spent its first 11 weeks at No. 1.
“The Tortured Poets Department” tied Morgan Wallen's 2023 album “One Thing at a Time,” which also debuted at No. 1 and stayed there for 12 consecutive weeks. (It would later remerge at the top spot, spending 19 weeks total at No. 1.)
The only album to outperform them is Stevie Wonder’s 1976 masterpiece, “Songs in the Key of Life.” It spent 13 weeks at No. 1 after debuting in the top spot; 14 weeks there in total.
“The Death of Slim Shady (Coup de Grâce)" is Eminem's 12th album and his 11th to hit No. 1. “The Tortured Poets Department” dropped to No. 4 as a result. In the second slot is K-pop boy band ENHYPHEN's “ROMANCE:UNTOLD” and irreverent country Zach Bryan's “The Great American Bar Scene” is at No. 3.