Behind the team Donald Trump biopic The Apprentice reality star's iconic catchphrase 'You're fired' continues to be a box office disappointment.
The film, which chronicles Trump's real estate career, struggled to attract audiences, earning only an estimated $1.58 million despite a $16 million production budget and release in 1,750 theaters.
Directed by Ali Abbasi, who told DailyMail.com that the coach had sought to cast an actress in the role of the former president, Trump's lawyers tried to block its release earlier this year.
The film grossed around $150,000 on Thursday, and its opening day results were very low.
Despite these challenges, the film, featuring Sebastian Stan Trump and Roy Cohn as Jeremy Strong as Republican activist, received mostly positive reviews.
Meanwhile, production company Briarcliff Entertainment is said to be aiming to put the film up for awards consideration.
In a mostly positive review, The New York Times called the film “gleefully vulgar” and said there was a “startling” resemblance between Sebastian and Jeremy and the real-life men they portray.
Reviewer Manohla Turkis wrote: 'Each actor has carefully studied his character's real-life counterpart, his mannerisms, how he moves and especially his voice.'
Donald Trump biopic The Apprentice has received positive reviews from critics, who hailed it as a 'hilarious' and fast-paced story with strong performances.
The film, directed by Ali Abbasi and written by Gabriel Sherman, follows Trump as a real estate mogul in the 1970s and 80s.
And he added: 'His extreme emotions, his vanity and conceit make you laugh, something the filmmakers don't prepare you for, even if you know better, and the scale of American tragedy unfolds before you fast. .
In another positive review, The Los Angeles Times gave Sebastian Stan 'the performance of his career to date' and praised the film's cinematography for capturing its 1980s setting so well.
Critic Katie Walsh added: 'Some might want 'The Apprentice' to go further. It humanizes Trump. But it presents a vividly vivid depiction of how a man can become a monster with the right personality, background and guidance. What more can be said to this?'
Film fan site JoBlo also gave The Apprentice rave reviews and said Jeremy Strong's performance as Roy Cohn made him the 'real star' of the film.
Critic Chris Bumphrey wrote: 'Abassi delivers an incredible sense of pace, resulting in a lean and mean two hours, entertaining from start to finish, no matter what political spectrum you're on'.
The Washington Post gave the film a less positive review, awarding it only 2.5 out of five stars, mostly because the film failed to capture the perspective of its main character.
Critic Ty Burr wrote: 'Donald Trump has no hidden self. What we see is what we get. The film's only plot is that the man becomes the monster (or, for some, the Messiah) he seems destined to be, with no dramatic tension to propel the film forward.
'Any sense of tragedy must have at least a glimmer of self-knowledge, and the film's Trump – as a suspect, the real man – is deeply curious about himself or anything outside himself.'
Sebastian Stan (left) plays the businessman-turned-politician, Jeremy Strong plays his lawyer Roy Cohn, and Maria Bagalova (right) plays Trump's ex-wife Ivana.
The New York Times called the film 'gleefully vulgar' and said there was a 'startling' resemblance between the leads, Sebastian and Jeremy, and the real-life men they portrayed.
Good Morning America gave the film a positive review, praising the acting among others.
Critic Peter Travers wrote: 'Wherever you stand on the Trump divide, there's no arguing that Stan and Strong deserve a place in the Oscar race because they set the screen ablaze.'
Along with others, The New Yorker praised the acting but felt that many of the supporting characters were lacking on screen.
Critic Richard Brody wrote: 'The supporting cast, interesting as it is, only sketches rather than embodies them—because Abbasi's deft direction leaves the actors little time and little screen space to explore their roles.
'The film has a number of dramatic incidents, but is far from wider implications or inner life.'
It comes after the Trump campaign announced it would be suing the 'pretentious filmmakers' behind The Apprentice as it shows the presidential candidate. He raped his wife Ivana.
It said it was full of long-debunked lies and joined the 'garbage can fire'.
The film, which tells the story of the end of his marriage to Ivana, at one point depicts Trump raping his wife: 'Did I find your G spot?'
In a 1989 divorce filing, Ivana filed rape charges, but dropped them in 2015. Then he died.
“We will be filing a lawsuit to address the blatantly false claims of these pretentious filmmakers,” said Trump campaign communications director Steven Cheung.
'This garbage is pure fiction, it is sensationalizing lies that have long been debunked.
' as illegal Biden tests This is election interference by the Hollywood elite, who know that President Trump will be re-elected and the White House will defeat their preferred candidate because nothing they do will work.
'This “movie” is a completely malicious slander that should never see the light of day, and does not deserve to be placed in the straight DVD section of a bargain bin at a soon-to-be-closed discount movie store. , it belongs in a dumpster fire.
The film's producers are at loggerheads with one of its financial backers, billionaire Dan Snyder, a Trump supporter and former donor to his campaign.
Ivana (pictured, left) was married to Donald Trump (pictured, right) from 1977 to 1990.
Sebastian Stan has received critical acclaim for his portrayal of Donald Trump
In Ivana Trump's 1990 divorce filing, she claimed that Mr. Trump raped her. She said Trump pushed her to the ground and pulled out several handfuls of her hair.
Mr Trump denied the allegation and Ivana Trump later said she didn't actually mean it, but rather felt violated.
In a 1993 statement, she said: 'On one occasion in 1989, Mr Trump and I had a marital relationship in which he behaved very differently towards me than he had during our marriage.
'As a woman I felt violated … I referred to it as a rape, but I did not want my words to be interpreted in a literal or criminal sense.'
