Atatürk biopic goes theatrical, skips Disney+ amid controversy
Mustafa Kemal Atatürk, the respected leader who founded the Republic of Türkiye. (Shutterstock Photo)


A new biopic series on Mustafa Kemal Atatürk, the founder of the Republic of Türkiye, will be presented as a two-part movie, accessible to a "broader audience" through TV and theater screenings after it was canceled to be aired on the Disney+ platform with the allegations of interference by the Armenian lobby.

The announcement came on Wednesday that they will release it as a two-part movie on TV and in movie theaters, "to make it reach a wider audience," said a statement from Disney and the production company. The coming announcement is rather meaningful after the platform received a huge backlash from its Turkish viewers.

The "much wider audience" statement that came from the company whimsically refers only to Turkish viewers, canceling the show to be open for global audiences.

The first part of the Atatürk movie will air on FOX TV on Oct. 29, the 100th anniversary of the founding of the republic. The movie will hit big screens a few days later, on Nov. 3, the statement said.

The second part will arrive in movie theaters on Dec. 22, it added.

Both movies will then air on FOX again in the summer of 2024.

"We are bringing our Atatürk content to our audience on the 100th anniversary of our Republic," Cenk Soner, Disney’s general manager for Türkiye, was quoted as saying in the statement.

"After the first television special version of Atatürk, which we planned as two films due to changes made to our content strategy, is broadcast on our FOX channel, the two films will be in movie theaters and later on FOX TV. Thus, we will present the Atatürk film to a wider audience."

"As part of the celebrations of the 100th anniversary of our republic, we are proud to be able to reach a much wider audience by broadcasting Atatürk with a special television version on FOX starting in October," producer Saner Ayar added.

"We will present this very special production in two separate films and show it in theaters as well as on television, allowing our viewers to enjoy watching movies on the big screen."