A Kickstarter campaign created in support of a Donald Trump film “corporate America is scared of you to see” is gaining heat.
Earlier this week, The Apprentice – a film starring Sebastian Stan as a younger version of the business tycoon – lost a key financial backer just one week after having its pre-election release picked up by Briarcliff Entertainment.
Kinematics boss Dan Snyder was reportedly left angry with scenes that show Trump having affairs and taking drugs. In the film, which premiered at Cannes film Festival in May, Trump is also seen to be heavily influenced by disgraced attorney Roy Cohn, played by Jeremy Strong.
The most controversial scene in the film, which is set in the 1970s, shows Trump raping his first wife Ivana, who had accused him of sexually assaulting her in a 1989 divorce deposition. She disavowed the allegation in 2015.
Billionaire Snyder, a long-time Trump supporter, had apparently approved Kinematics’s financial backing of the movie, under the impression it would offer a flattering portrayal of Trump’s rise in real estate.
Earlier this week, the financier confirmed its exit from the film, citing “creative differences”. The news arrived after what producer Dan Bekerman has described as an “excruciating” six months trying to get The Apprentice screened outside the US beyond the forthcoming election, in which Trump is taking on Democratic nominee Kamala Harris.
Trump’s team tried to get the film blocked ahead of its Cannes premiere, with the Republican presidential nominee’s chief spokesperson calling the film “pure fiction”.
“We will be filing a lawsuit to address the blatantly false assertions from these pretend filmmakers,” Steven Cheung said, with Abbasi telling reporters: “Everybody talks about him suing a lot of people, they don’t talk about his success rate.”
While the film’s pre-election release will be overseen by Briarcliff Entertainment, director Ali Abbasi has since set up a Kickstarter to broaden the film’s distribution and promotional deals around the world.
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The campaign’s subhead reads: “Help us promote and defend the acclaimed Trump biopic that Corporate America is scared to show you.”
Abbasi set a goal of $100,000 (£75,928) – but, after just one day, he has exceeded this, amassing $156,600 (£118,920) from 2,328 backers at the time of writing.
The filmmaker reacted to this development on X/Twitter, writing: “Wow we crushed our kickstarter target in one day! Apparently people DO want to see #TheApprentice in cinemas.”
The Apprentice will be released in the US on 11 October, with an awards push expected for Stan and Strong.