After encountering challenges in generating interest following its premiere at the prestigious Cannes Film Festival, the film “The Apprentice,” featuring Sebastian Stan as a young Donald Trump, has secured a distributor committed to releasing the film shortly before the pivotal November elections.

Briarcliff Entertainment has announced plans to release “The Apprentice” on October 11 in theaters across the United States and Canada. This strategic timing places the film’s release just weeks before American voters head to the polls on November 5.

Ali Abbasi, the Danish-Iranian director, was determined to ensure “The Apprentice” reached audiences before the election. Despite larger studios and distributors choosing not to bid on the film, Abbasi voiced his frustration in early June on X, suggesting that influential figures were preventing the film’s release. He remarked, “For some reason, certain power people in your country don’t want you to see it!!!”

In response, Steven Cheung, communications director for the Trump campaign, issued a statement on Friday, August 30, criticizing the timing of the film’s release. Cheung labeled the release as “election interference by Hollywood elites right before November,” condemning the film as “pure malicious defamation” that should not see the light of day. He further added that it doesn’t even deserve a place in a bargain bin and belongs in a dumpster fire.

One of the factors that contributed to the lack of initial interest in “The Apprentice” was the looming threat of legal action. Following its premiere at Cannes in May, Cheung denounced the film as “pure fiction” and indicated that the Trump team would pursue legal action to counter what they perceived as false assertions from the filmmakers.

“The Apprentice” delves into Trump’s ascent in New York’s real estate scene under the mentorship of defense attorney Roy Cohn, portrayed by Jeremy Strong. The movie controversially depicts Trump raping his wife, Ivana Trump, played by Maria Bakalova. This portrayal is rooted in Ivana Trump’s 1990 divorce deposition, where she accused Trump of rape—a claim he denied. Ivana later clarified that she had felt violated but did not mean it literally.

Abbasi has suggested that Trump might not entirely disapprove of the film. In May, he expressed his willingness to discuss the movie with Trump personally. “I would offer to go and meet him wherever he wants and talk about the context of the movie, have a screening and have a chat afterwards, if that’s interesting to anyone at the Trump campaign,” Abbasi stated.

Briarcliff Entertainment, led by Tom Ortenberg, has a history of distributing notable films. These include the 2022 documentary “Gabby Giffords Won’t Back Down” and the Liam Neeson thriller “Memory.” Ortenberg, during his tenure at Lionsgate, was instrumental in releasing Michael Moore’s “Fahrenheit 9/11” and later supported the best picture Oscar winner “Spotlight” as chief executive of Open Road.