Funny or Die Made a Trump Biopic

Guess who’s playing the businessman-turned-politician? None other than our very own loopy pirate, Mad Hatter and  demon barber Sweeney Todd actor Johnny Depp!  But will he be a convincing Donald J. Trump?

According to The New York Times, the humor website Funny or Die began streaming a 50-minute comedy, in which the actor portrays the US republican presidential candidate. It was kept a secret for months until today as “Funny or Die Presents Donald Trump’s The Art of the Deal: The Movie” was released to coincide with Trump’s victory on Tuesday in the New Hampshire Republican presidential primary.

“It was a crazy, completely nuts idea that somehow we pulled off,” said Adam McKay, a co-founder of Funny or Die, which also counts Will Ferrell and Judd Apatow as principal partners and produces exclusive material that often features well-known stars.  McKay, the director of “The Big Short,” which is a contender for best picture at the coming Academy Awards, added that the site’s newest skewering of Trump will “with any luck” annoy the presidential hopeful.

“The Art of the Deal,” takes its title from Trump’s 1987 best-selling business advice book, may establish a new Hollywood genre: the fake television movie of the week. As a narrator (the director Ron Howard, playing himself) tells viewers at its start, the movie was made in the 1980s and had Trump as its writer-producer-director-star. But a football game went into overtime, and so an angry Trump ordered the prime-time special pulled and forever tucked away in a vault.

Depp, who was not available for an interview, spent four days in December taping the faux movie. Other characters are played by Jack McBrayer, Patton Oswalt, Alfred Molina, Henry Winkler, Andy Richter and Jacob Tremblay, among others. Michaela Watkins, known for her work on “Saturday Night Live” and the sitcom “New Girl,” was cast as Ivana Trump.