StudioCanal announced the acquisition of Ali Abbasi on Thursday Entry for the Cannes competition The intern for the UK and Ireland, with a release planned for later this year. The film is an exploration of Donald Trump's rise to power in America in the 1980s.
Directed by Abbasi and written by Gabe Sherman, the film stars Emmy and Golden Globe Award nominees and Berlin Silver Bear winner Sebastian Stan (Pam & Tommy) as Trump, Emmy, Golden Globe and SAG Award winner Jeremy Strong (succession) as his firefighter mentor Roy Cohn, Martin Donovan (Basic principle) as Fred Trump Sr., and Academy Award and Golden Globe Award nominee Maria Bakalova (Borat subsequent movie film) as Ivana Trump.
The intern is “a dive into the underbelly of the American empire,” according to a plot description. “It charts a young Donald Trump's rise to power through a Faustian deal with influential right-wing lawyer and political fixer Roy Cohn.”
The film is produced by Daniel Bekerman for Scythia Films, Jacob Jarek for Profile Pictures, Ruth Treacy and Julianne Forde for Tailored Films, and Abbasi and Louis Tisné for Film Institute. Executive producers are Amy Baer, Mark H. Rapaport, Emanuel Nunez, Josh Marks, Grant S. Johnson, Phil Hunt and Compton Ross, Thorsten Schumacher, Niamh Fagan, Gabe Sherman, Lee Broda, James Shani, Andrew Frank and Greg Denny .
Rocket Science acts International sales of the project, which was financed by Kinematics, Head Gear Films, Screen Ireland, Film i Vast, the Danish Film Institute and the National Bank of Canada.
The intern will be released in cinemas in the UK and Ireland in 2024, according to StudioCanal.