In the USA, the focus is currently also on the Telluride Film Festival: There, people are cheering about “Conclave” by Edward Berger, marveling at “September 5” by Tim Fehlbaum – and talking about “The Apprentice”, whose US release is now secured after much back and forth, even before the presidential elections, as always planned.
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For a long time, the cinema future of “The Apprentice“ has been a hot topic in the USA: While the German launch at DCM on October 17th was never in doubt, after the premiere at the Festival de Cannes in May (here our review from Cannes) American distributors had long hesitated: The film by Ali Abbasiabout the early years of Donald Trump with Sebastian Stan and Jeremy Strong was from Donald Trumpattacked and threatened with legal consequences. One major distributor after another turned the film down: they didn’t want to go to the trouble. At one point it even looked as if the wealthy co-financier Daniel Snyder, a billionaire and friend of Trump, would succeed in exercising his veto and blocking the film completely.
It is now certain that “The Aprentice” will be released in cinemas on October 11, as planned before the US presidential election, as planned: The boutique indie Briarcliff has secured the rights, as has been known for some time – and has probably also ensured that the film can be released in cinemas. A triumph for Briarcliff boss Tom Ortenberg, former boss of Open Road: Last night the film was shown for the first time on American soil in Telluride. A lightning-fast campaign will follow.
Thomas Schultze
