The Trump movie “The Apprentice” is a total box office write off.
“The Apprentice,” starring Sebastian Stan as Donald Trump and Jeremy Strong as Roy Cohen, has made 1.6 million over the last four days.
It’s playing in 1,750 theaters, a fairly wide release. Average per screen is 908, meaning just nine people — or fewer — have been in every theater where it’s played.
“The Apprentice” had a startling premiere at the Cannes Film Festival in May when it had no distributor. There was an immediate issue because much of the financing had come from former Washington Commanders owner Dan Snyder, who thought he was backing a pro Trump movie. When Snyder discovered the movie showed Trump in a negative way — such as assaulting wife Ivana — the fear was the movie wouldn’t see the light of day.
But Tom Ortenberg stepped in with his Briarcliff Entertainment, and Snyder was persuaded to let the movie be released.
“The Apprentice” really never got much of a marketing push, however, and came off as something of a stealth release. The result is that audiences have stayed away in droves. The only way to save “The Apprentice” now — so it could impact the election – would be to just to put it on streaming services.
