A big-budget “kinder” Donald Trump biopic is in the works

Posted On May 10, 2025May 10, 2025

A big-budget biopic of President Donald Trump is being promoted to investors at the Cannes Film Festival. It promises a “kinder” take on his life than 2024’s Sebastian Stan-led movie The Apprentice.

Andrea Iervolino, producer of Ferrari and To The Bone, is pitching the picture for a $100million budget. In a statement to the outlet, the production company promised “a major new biographical film centred on the life and legacy of Donald J Trump — real estate mogul, television icon, and 45th and 47th President of the United States”.

Iervolino has also said of the project: “Whether one agrees or disagrees with his politics, there’s no denying Donald Trump’s impact on the modern era. As a producer, I’m interested in exploring the deeper story of the man — the rise, the challenges, the resilience. Our goal is to deliver a film that is bold, balanced, and artistically ambitious”.

The only Hollywood portrayal of him in recent years has been The Apprentice, starring Sebastian Stan as a young Trump, and Jeremy Strong as attorney Roy Cohn. Far Out said of the picture: “It’s not mocking enough to be satirical and not honest enough to be explosive. By not commenting on the wider impact of his actions, it makes an otherwise forceful and dynamic film feel slightly weak and cowardly, creating a docile commentary of America’s most dangerous lunatic.”

Trump did not take well to the movie. He wrote on social media: “A FAKE and CLASSLESS Movie written about me, called, ‘The Apprentice’ (Do they even have the right to use that name without approval?), will hopefully ‘bomb.”

He ended his post with: “So sad that HUMAN SCUM, like the people involved in this hopefully unsuccessful enterprise, are allowed to say and do whatever they want in order to hurt a Political Movement, which is far bigger than any of us. MAGA2024!”

Trump’s relationship with film is currently more fraught than ever. On May 4th, Trump brought his brewing trade war to the film industry’s door, imposing his plan to introduce tariffs in an attempt to revive Hollywood as productions increasingly turn their backs on it in favour of more cost-effective shooting locations.

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