Plane with banner telling Trump to watch 'The Apprentice' flies near Pennsylvania rally

The distribution company behind the movie “The Apprentice” promoted the controversial film outside former President Trump’s rally on Wednesday, flying a plane carrying a banner that urged the GOP nominee to watch the movie when it’s released this weekend.

“TRUMP: GO SEE THE APPRENTICE FRIDAY!” read the banner, which was visible from the ground outside the closed rally venue in Reading, Pa., on Wednesday.

The film production and distribution company, Briarcliff Entertainment, confirmed in a statement that footage of the airplane posted online is authentic and said the plane circled in the vicinity for approximately two hours before the former president spoke.  

Briarcliff Entertainment said the unconventional strategy was part of a marketing effort ahead of the film’s release this weekend.

“This was a marketing effort on behalf of The Apprentice movie to raise awareness for the film ahead of its nationwide theatrical release beginning tomorrow, October 11, and to encourage the former President to see the film,” the statement read.

The film — directed by filmmaker Ali Abbasi and written by Gabriel Sherman — tells the story of a young Trump, played by Sebastian Stan, and his rise in the real estate industry in New York with his former attorney and mentor Roy Cohn, played by Jeremy Strong.

The movie premiered in May at the Cannes Film Festival and reportedly received an eight-minute standing ovation at the festival but did not clinch any awards.

The film immediately drew scrutiny from the former president and his team. In May, a lawyer for Trump sent a cease-and-desist letter to the filmmakers, seeking to block the movie’s release. His team also threatened to file a suit for what it claimed were “blatantly false assertions.”

Trump communications director Steven Cheung sharply criticized the film, both at the time and on Thursday, in a similar statement, in which he called the film “pure malicious defamation” and said, “This garbage is pure fiction which sensationalizes lies that have been long debunked.”

Cheung noted that the film, which began production years ago, will be released just weeks before the November election, which he said is an example of “election interference by Hollywood elites right before November, who know that President Trump will retake the White House.”