(New York) Two weeks after its highly anticipated premiere at the Cannes Film Festival, a film about Donald Trump in the 1980s is still seeking distribution in the United States.

In Cannes, The Apprentice unveiled a scathing portrait of the former American president when he was young. The film, which stars Sebastian Stan, charts Mr. Trump’s rise to prominence in New York real estate, under the tutelage of Roy Cohn (Jeremy Strong), the defense attorney who served as chief adviser by Joseph McCarthy during the 1950s Senate investigations into people suspected of communism.

The Apprentice, directed by Iranian-Danish filmmaker Ali Abbasi, immediately sparked controversy. After the premiere, Mr. Trump’s re-election campaign spokesman Steven Cheung called the film “pure fiction” and announced that Mr. Trump’s team would file a lawsuit “to address the blatantly false claims by these so-called filmmakers.”

Whether or not it was influenced by that threat, The Apprentice has yet to be released by a major studio or a major streaming service — none of which have even made an offer for the film. While the film has been released in most countries around the world, it has yet to be released in the country where Mr. Trump is running for president.

Although high-profile films usually find buyers before or shortly after their festival showing, negotiations can drag on. A spokesperson for the film’s sales team declined to comment. A person close to the film, who requested anonymity because they were not authorized to comment publicly, said the film was the subject of numerous offers domestically.

Earlier this week, Abbasi’s frustration seemed to spill over onto social media platform X. In response to an article that blamed a flood of sequels and new releases for the films’ dismal recent box office performance, Abbasi made a “new proposal.”

“This is not a (expletive) sequel or a (expletive) new version,” Abbasi wrote. His name is

Representatives for Trump did not respond to requests for comment. Last Thursday, Mr. Trump was convicted on 34 counts of falsifying business records in what prosecutors said was an attempt to cover up a hush-money payment to pornographic actress Stormy Daniels just before the 2016 presidential election.

One scene in the film is particularly explosive. At the end of the film, Trump is shown raping his wife, Ivana Trump (played by Maria Bakalova). In her 1990 divorce deposition, Ivana Trump said that he had raped her. Trump denied the allegation, and Ivana Trump later clarified that she had not said it literally, but that she had felt raped.

Variety previously reported on alleged tensions behind the scenes of The Apprentice. Citing anonymous sources, the trade publication reported that billionaire Dan Snyder, former owner of the Washington Commanders and investor in The Apprentice, had pressured the filmmakers to change the rape scene. Mr. Snyder has previously donated to Mr. Trump’s presidential campaign.

Mr. Snyder’s lawyers did not respond to requests for comment.

Releasing The Apprentice in most years could prove difficult. In an election year, this is a potential lightning rod. Distributors would face the option of launching it either shortly before the November election or afterward.

The Apprentice received largely positive reviews at Cannes, but was not shortlisted for the prizes awarded by the festival jury. Mr. Strong’s performance was particularly praised as a possible award contender.

At the film’s premiere, Abbasi defended the film’s direct approach, stating that “there is no beautiful metaphor to deal with the rising tide of fascism.”

The next day, the filmmaker dismissed the threat of a trial.

“I don’t necessarily think it’s a movie that he (Trump) wouldn’t like,” Abbasi said. I don’t necessarily think he would like it. I think he’d be surprised, you know? And as I said before, I would offer to meet him wherever he wants and talk about the background of the film, arrange a screening and chat afterwards, if anyone from the Trump campaign is interested. »