NEW YORK (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 U.S. 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). Late in the movie, Trump is depicted raping his wife, Ivana Trump (played by Maria Bakalova ). In Ivana Trump’s 1990 divorce deposition, she stated that Trump raped her. Trump denied the allegation and Ivana Trump later said she didn’t mean it literally, but rather that she had felt violated.
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.”
Republican presidential nominee former President Donald Trump speaks during a town hall with former Democratic Rep. Tulsi Gabbard, Thursday, Aug. 29, 2024, in La Crosse, Wis. (AP Photo/Charlie Neibergall)
FILE - Julianne Forde, from left, Ruth Treacy, Maria Bakalova, director Ali Abbasi, Sebastian Stan, and Amy Baer pose for photographers upon arrival at the premiere of the film 'The Apprentice' at the 77th international film festival, Cannes, southern France, on May 20, 2024. (Photo by Scott A Garfitt/Invision/AP, File)
NEW YORK (AP) — Marcus Stroman will be moved into the bullpen by the New York Yankees next week as they attempt to hold off Baltimore in a close race for the AL East crown.
New York has a day off Monday before beginning a six-game trip to Seattle and Oakland, so the Yankees will return to a five-man rotation. Nestor Cortes will be scheduled to start next time through instead of Stroman.
“He’ll be available for us out of the ‘pen probably Sunday and we’ll keep evaluating moving forward,” manager Aaron Boone said before Friday night’s 5-4 victory against Boston.
"I’ll try to put him in the best position, make sure we communicate well with him. He and I spoke yesterday about it. Nothing’s necessarily permanent, but with the off day coming I wanted to have us go five at least this time and maybe the next time around, too. We’ll see.”
It was Cortes who was the odd man out last week, when New York used five starters around an off day Sept. 5. The left-hander wasn't happy about the decision, but he pitched 4 1/3 hitless innings last Saturday against the Chicago Cubs in his first relief appearance since 2021. He earned the win in a 2-0 victory at Wrigley Field.
Without an off day off this week, Stroman and Cortes both pitched on turn as the Yankees went with six starters.
Stroman allowed three runs and seven hits over 5 1/3 innings Tuesday in a 5-0 loss to the Kansas City Royals. Cortes struck out nine over five innings in a no-decision Thursday against the Red Sox, permitting one run and three hits with three walks on 92 pitches.
Stroman is 10-8 with a 4.07 ERA in 28 starts during his first season with the Yankees. He has lost back-to-back outings after going 3-0 with a 2.35 ERA in his previous four.
“He’s one of the reasons we’re here," Boone said. “He’s gone to the post for us, taken all of his starts, won a lot of ballgames for us. I think one of the reasons we have a chance to get to the postseason is some of the consistency of our starting pitching, and on balance he’s done a really good job for us.”
The right-hander made two relief appearances for the Cubs last September, pitching on consecutive days after returning from a right hip injury. Besides that, the other six relief outings of his major league career all came during his first season in 2014 with Toronto.
“Stro’s been so good for us and so good in the room,” Boone said. “He’s all team in there and all about the guys in there. Basically his message to me is, whatever you need and I’ll be ready to go.”
Cortes is 9-10 with a 3.90 ERA in 29 starts and one relief appearance this year. He has given up 24 home runs, eight more than previous career high.
Luis Gil and Clarke Schmidt recently returned from the injured list, giving the Yankees six healthy starters. New York has the best record in the American League at 86-62, three games ahead of the Orioles in the AL East.
“It’s just really about, we’re at that point of the year — difficult decisions to make,” Boone said. "And part of the reason they’re difficult decisions is because we have a lot of really good options that have made those difficult decisions. That’s where we’re at right now.”
New York has another day off Sept. 23 before hosting Baltimore and Pittsburgh to conclude the regular season, but Boone didn't commit to a rotation plan for the final week.
“I would say it’s kind of fluid,” he said.
AP freelance writer Larry Fleisher contributed to this report.
AP MLB: https://www.apnews.com/hub/MLB
New York Yankees closing pitcher Nestor Cortes, right, celebrates with catcher Austin Wells, left, after defeating the Chicago Cubs 2-0 in a baseball game in Chicago, Saturday, Sept. 7, 2024. (AP Photo/Paul Beaty)
New York Yankees pitcher Marcus Stroman looks up before the start of a baseball game against the Kansas City Royals at Yankee Stadium, Tuesday, Sept. 10, 2024, in New York. (AP Photo/Seth Wenig)
New York Yankees pitcher Nestor Cortes throws during the fourth inning of a baseball game against the Boston Red Sox at Yankee Stadium Thursday, Sept. 12, 2024, in New York. (AP Photo/Seth Wenig)
New York Yankees pitcher Marcus Stroman throws during the second inning of a baseball game against the Kansas City Royals at Yankee Stadium, Tuesday, Sept. 10, 2024, in New York. (AP Photo/Seth Wenig)
