A movie about Donald Trump titled The Apprentice is currently in development. Borrowing the title from the reality show Trump himself produced, American author Gabriel Sherman will pen the screenplay.
Just over a year into his presidency, US President Donald Trump will be the focus of a feature length movie based on his journey to the White House, beginning with the earliest moments of his career. Trump won the presidential election on November 8, 2016, edging out his running mate Hillary Clinton. Now, Vanity Fair’s special correspondent Gabriel Sherman has been tasked with writing a screenplay based on the President’s rise to power, with significant focus aimed at specific individuals who helped influence Trump, including attorney Roy Cohn. Gidden Media’s Amy Baer will produce.
The movie, which is in the very early stages of development, will serve as a kind of origin story, according to THR. In an official statement, Sherman detailed his 15 years of experience reporting on Trump, explaining that he has “long been fascinated” by Trump’s meteoric rise. He explained that the movie will detail Trump’s early “formative period” that “tells us so much about the man who today occupies the Oval Office.” Though Sherman did not specify the exact timeline, he did indicate the “the gritty world of 1970s and ’80s New York” will play a prominent role. It’s unclear how much of Trump’s time in the White House will be detailed in the movie, if it will even be featured at all.
Regarding Sherman’s role as screenwriter, Baer released a statement explaining why he would be the perfect person to bring Trump’s story to the big screen. She said:
Though Sherman is professionally centered around political journalism, The Apprentice won’t be his first Hollywood credit, but second. His book about Fox News founder and notable Trump supporter Roger Ailes titled The Loudest Voice in the Room: How the Brilliant, Bombastic Roger Ailes Built Fox News - and Divided a Country is currently being adapted for television. Showtime and Jason Blum’s Blumhouse Television will produce, and Spotlight’s Oscar-winning writer/director Tom McCarthy will executive produce.
“Gabe is an extraordinary storyteller as well as an impeccable journalist. The timeliness of this subject, combined with Gabe’s professional pedigree and integrity, makes this a rare alignment of talent and subject.”
Not only the first feature-length film based on Trump, The Apprentice will be unique in that it will join a very small subcategory of films based on US presidents released while the film’s respective president is still in office. Other movies that have done this include Southside With You and Netflix’s Barry, Oliver Stone’s W., which was released in the final few months of George W. Bush’s presidency (and one month prior to Barack Obama winning the 2008 election), and Mike Nichols’ Primary Colors (which was inspired by Bill Clinton, but wasn’t directly based on him).
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Source: THR
