‘Huff and puff but don’t blow the house down’: Trump legal threat to movie may come to nothing

The heels of that, we're bringing in Dominic Patton, executive editor for Deadline Hollywood, of whom I'm a fan. So here we go. In your new article, you highlighted that massive $28 million haul for tonight's fundraiser. It's already been brought in. How big a deal is tonight's event for the Biden campaign, Dom, and how might it compare to the president's last star-studded Fraser fundraiser? Rather right next to where we are here in New York City. Well, in the Radio City Music Hall event, by the way, Alex, big fan of yours, too. In the Radio City Music Hall event where we had President Biden, President Obama and President Clinton on stage with Stephen Colbert, they raised $26 million. So this is already 2 million above that. And as your correspondent mentioned, they anticipate there's going to be more here. This is a very big deal for the president's campaign because this is not only an indication of their fundraising capacities, it's also an indication of their enthusiasm capacities. There's been a lot of discussion out there about whether people are really that jazzed up about Trump, Biden redux. It looks like that's starting to change. It looks like people are starting to lock in on this campaign and certainly with the likes of President Obama, who's playing the role that President Clinton played for him in 2012. He's starting to see the big guns come out. And we heard Aaron talk about those that will be expected to attend the big celebrities, George Clooney, Julia Roberts helping to Co host, of course, President Obama. Who else might we see? Are there gonna be a lot of star-studded, you know, celebrities in the audience as well? I think so. You know, I mean, there's also, as you had on your display, that there's Sheryl Lee Ralph from Abbott Elementary, or should I say Doctor Sheryl Lee Ralph from Abbott Elementary, Jason Bateman, who was at the Radio City Music Hall event. There's a number of people who are going to be there also from, I would say, behind the camera in Hollywood specifically, of course, let's mention Jeffrey Katzenberg, the former head of DreamWorks, who is one of the chief individuals in the president's reelection campaign. Katzenberg, who, of course has been very close to President Obama and very close to President Biden. He's putting a lot of stock into getting these bums and seats, as they say. And it looks like in the Peacock Theater, which fits just over 7000 people, those seats are finally all full. A couple days ago, it looked like there were a few left, but they are all sold out now. So this is going to be a pretty jam packed house right in the center of downtown Los Angeles. I heard you're going. So what you're wearing, No, I'm just kidding. But you're going, right. I am wearing. I am probably wearing this jacket. Yes. OK, Goodwill, you look great. Let's talk about the new movie, The Apprentice. It's a drama depiction of Donald Trump's early years as a New York real estate mogul. It's getting some pretty good reviews, but it does not always portray Donald Trump in a flattering light. And the Trump campaign, as you know, threatened to sue its film makers. Any updates Tom on where The Apprentice stands today and potential legal action Well as is so often with Donald Trump and the Trump campaign huff and puff but they don't blow the house down. This was a threat. The threat was given a May 27th deadline that deadline has come and gone The film The Apprentice which debuted over in Khan and has received tremendous reviews. Sebastian Stan playing don't a young Donald Trump successions Jeremy Strong playing Roy Cohn. This is a depiction of the of the former president that really shows where that that Attack, Attack, deny, deny strategy comes from. But it's been picked up in Canada, It's been picked up in Japan, It's been picked up in the UK, has been picked up in France, picked up in Journey. Nobody yet picked it up in America. Now some people postulate the New York Times did an op-ed recently, but that's because people are afraid of a Trump blowback. I would take another theory. I think they're afraid of a Trump fatigue. I think that once you see what the numbers look like from this debate at the end of the month, you're going to see people like Netflix and maybe the Peacocks, which are owned, of course, by NBC at Comcast. You might see them start looking at this and realizing if we can get the eyeballs, we're going to put this on. See, now I'm going to defer to you. You're going to know a lot more about Hollywood than I would. But I have to say, as soon as I heard that this was being threatened, that I might not be able to see it if I wanted to, made me want to see it all the more. Do you think there's an element of that, that it could help with the publicity and, you know, if Hollywood pitches it the right way, it could actually bring in the eyeballs? Look, I think, Alex, you're totally right. If you see a poster on a building hoarding that says The Apprentice, the movie Donald Trump doesn't want you to see, how many people do you think are going to want to want to go see that movie for obvious reasons. I do think The Apprentice, you know, there, look, there are distribution deals being discussed right now. So, you know, within days we could hear something or not. But I do think, remember, there's two elements here. There's a film distribution in a theater, which they're looking at maybe September if they could pull it off. But also don't count out a streamer where this could reach a global audience. And remember, too, that's important to remember because streamers have to fear a lot less regulatory issues than some people might feel that they'll get if Trump gets reelected. Either way, I predict The Apprentice is coming to an American screen, big or small, near you soon. I just think they're trying to figure out if the audience is there. OK, Dominic Patton is always a pleasure. Enjoy the fundraiser tonight. Can't wait to talk to you, e-mail or otherwise, on what it's all about. Thank you.