Trump Film ‘The Apprentice’ Finds Distributor and Will Open before the Election

 Republican presidential nominee former President Donald Trump gestures after speaking at a campaign event, Friday, Aug. 30, 2024, in Johnstown, Pa. (AP)
Republican presidential nominee former President Donald Trump gestures after speaking at a campaign event, Friday, Aug. 30, 2024, in Johnstown, Pa. (AP)
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Trump Film ‘The Apprentice’ Finds Distributor and Will Open before the Election

 Republican presidential nominee former President Donald Trump gestures after speaking at a campaign event, Friday, Aug. 30, 2024, in Johnstown, Pa. (AP)
Republican presidential nominee former President Donald Trump gestures after speaking at a campaign event, Friday, Aug. 30, 2024, in Johnstown, Pa. (AP)

After struggling to drum up interest following its Cannes Film Festival premiere, “The Apprentice,” starring Sebastian Stan as a young Donald Trump, has found a distributor that plans to release the film shortly before the election in November.

Briarcliff Entertainment will release “The Apprentice” on Oct. 11 in US and Canadian theaters, just weeks before Americans cast their ballots on Nov. 5.

Director Ali Abbasi, the Danish Iranian filmmaker, had prioritized getting “The Apprentice” into theaters before voters head to the polls. After larger studios and film distributors opted not to bid on the film, Abbasi complained in early June on X that “for some reason certain power people in your country don’t want you to see it!!!”

Steven Cheung, communications director for the Trump campaign, in a statement Friday called the film’s release “election interference by Hollywood elites right before November.”

“This ‘film’ is pure malicious defamation, should never 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,” Cheung said.

Part of what dampened interest in “The Apprentice” was the potential threat of legal action. After its Cannes premiere in May, Cheung called the movie “pure fiction” and said the Trump team would file a lawsuit “to address the blatantly false assertions from these pretend filmmakers.”

“The Apprentice” chronicles Trump’s rise to power in New York real estate under the tutelage of defense attorney Roy Cohn (played by Jeremy Strong).

Abbasi has argued Trump might not dislike the movie.

“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,” Abbasi said in May.

Briarcliff Entertainment has released films including the 2022 documentary “Gabby Giffords Won’t Back Down” and the Liam Neeson thriller “Memory.” The indie distributor is run by Tom Ortenberg, who at Lionsgate helped released Michael Moore’s “Fahrenheit 9/11” and as chief executive of Open Road backed the best picture Oscar winner “Spotlight.”



Rihanna Reveals Third Pregnancy on Met Gala Night

Rihanna made a fashionably late entrance at the Met Gala -- showcasing a new baby bump. Angela WEISS / AFP
Rihanna made a fashionably late entrance at the Met Gala -- showcasing a new baby bump. Angela WEISS / AFP
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Rihanna Reveals Third Pregnancy on Met Gala Night

Rihanna made a fashionably late entrance at the Met Gala -- showcasing a new baby bump. Angela WEISS / AFP
Rihanna made a fashionably late entrance at the Met Gala -- showcasing a new baby bump. Angela WEISS / AFP

Rihanna loves to make an entrance at the Met Gala, and she certainly did it again Monday -- this time, announcing to the world that she is pregnant with her third child with rapper A$AP Rocky.

News of the 37-year-old singer and beauty mogul's new baby bump came before her arrival at the A-list fundraising gala, AFP said.

In a portrait put on Instagram by photographer Miles Diggs, she embraced the Black dandy theme of the gala in a fitted gray Miu Miu blouse and skirt -- the baby bump clearly visible -- matching knee-high boots, a fur stole and a black cloche hat.

Then her long-time partner A$AP Rocky, a co-chair of the event, confirmed the news to reporters who offered congratulations on the red carpet at the Metropolitan Museum of Art.

"Thank you, thank you, thank you," the rapper said. "I'm glad everybody's happy for us because we're definitely happy."

Finally, after all of the other guests had arrived, Rihanna hit the red carpet in a deconstructed black ensemble with a cropped jacket, polka dot accessories and a wide-brimmed hat. She cradled the baby bump and smiled for the cameras.

Rihanna made a similarly high-profile pregnancy reveal in 2023 -- while performing at the Super Bowl halftime show. She attended the Met Gala later that year before giving birth.

She and A$AP Rocky are parents to sons RZA, born in May 2022, and Riot, born in August 2023.

Showing off a baby bump at the Met Gala is a thing: retired tennis superstar Serena Williams did it in 2023, and model Karlie Kloss cradled her bump in both 2023 and again this year.