Controversial Trump film 'The Apprentice' to hit theatres before US election

The Apprentice, the controversial biographical drama film about young Donald Trump, the former US president and the 2024 Republican presidential nominee, will hit US and Canadian theatres in October, weeks before the presidential election in November, according to media reports.

The hot-button film has been acquired by Briarcliff Entertainment for a pre-election release on October 11, as well as an awards push, reported a news publication. Briarcliff Entertainment is an indie distributor based in Santa Monica, California.

Directed by Ali Abbasi and written by a longtime Trump chronicler Gabriel Sherman, the film stars Emmy nominee Sebastian Stan as Trump, a news agency reported.

The Apprentice, premiered at the Cannes Film Festival in May, examines Trump's career as a real estate businessman in New York in the 1970s and the 1980s. The film bowed in competition at Cannes and immediately stoked controversy.

After the film's unveiling, Trump campaign communications director Steven Cheung blasted it as "garbage" and "pure fiction" and vowed to file a lawsuit against the filmmakers in an effort to derail its release, reported the newspaper.

Following its Cannes debut, The Apprentice secured distribution in Canada, Europe and parts of Asia, but the film faced uncertainty in the US, as nervous studios, streamers and indie distributors hesitated to invite the wrath of Trump and his supporters, said the report. After months of negotiations, though, Briarcliff stepped up and grabbed the film's domestic distribution rights, the report added.