{"id":263322,"date":"2026-01-25T14:32:08","date_gmt":"2026-01-25T14:32:08","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/263322\/"},"modified":"2026-01-25T14:32:08","modified_gmt":"2026-01-25T14:32:08","slug":"melania-trumps-multimillion-dollar-documentary-project-faces-a-key-test-this-week","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/263322\/","title":{"rendered":"Melania Trump\u2019s multimillion-dollar documentary project faces a key test this week"},"content":{"rendered":"

\n First lady Melania Trump and Amazon MGM Studios face a high-stakes test this week with the release of the \u201cMelania\u201d documentary<\/a>: Will the multimillion-dollar investment pay off?\n <\/p>\n

\n Approximately $35 million has been spent on marketing \u201cMelania,\u201d a film documenting the 20 days around Trump\u2019s return to the White House, according to a source familiar with the matter, with ads featuring images of the first lady on television, on billboards, in subway stations, plastered on buses across the country, and even encompassing the Sphere in Las Vegas.\n <\/p>\n

\n That\u2019s in addition to the roughly $40 million deal Amazon MGM Studios struck with the first lady, marking a blockbuster budget for the documentary, which releases in theaters Friday.\n <\/p>\n

\n \u201cAfter I structured the record-breaking deal for her with Amazon, she got to work,\u201d Trump\u2019s agent and senior adviser, Marc Beckman, said in an interview this week with One America News.\n <\/p>\n

\n The first lady serves an executive producer on the project \u2014 meaning it was made with her full participation and editorial control. And she has been deeply involved in the process.\n <\/p>\n

\n \u201cShe was involved in the production, the postproduction, all of the ad campaign, the trailer. \u2026 And when I say involved, I mean she\u2019s not just approving. She built that trailer<\/a>. She created the cliffhanger, she selected the music. Same thing with the ad campaign that we\u2019re seeing worldwide now in almost 30 countries,\u201d Beckman said.\n <\/p>\n

\n The significant marketing budget, according to documentary filmmaker Stefano Da Fr\u00e8, is likely bolstered by metrics and a belief by Amazon that the film will be a box office and streaming success. Da Fr\u00e8, who was not involved in the project, has directed multiple films streaming on Amazon and other platforms, including \u201cStolen Dough,\u201d a 2023 documentary about a man whose patent for stuffed crust pizza was stolen by Pizza Hut.\n <\/p>\n

\n Amazon, he told CNN in an interview, \u201cis a data-driven company. With all their tools, all their AI, Amazon Web Services \u2014 they didn\u2019t just come up with that number randomly. They believe, through their metrics, that it\u2019s worth that amount.\u201d\n <\/p>\n

\n Events around the film\u2019s debut kicked off Saturday night as the first lady and President Donald Trump hosted a private showing in the White House East Room with a small group of friends and family, according to a White House official.\n <\/p>\n

\n Melania Trump has kept a relatively low profile<\/a> in her second term, picking and choosing her engagements as she largely splits her time between New York and Florida. However, she has scaled up her public appearances ahead of the documentary\u2019s release and is expected to ring the bell at the New York Stock Exchange on Wednesday morning.\n <\/p>\n

\n On Thursday, the Trumps will walk the red carpet and attend a screening event at the Kennedy Center, newly renamed the Trump Kennedy Center by its board.\n <\/p>\n

\n There will be 21 invitation-only concurrent screenings at cities across the country, including New York, Boston, Las Vegas and Los Angeles, according to the source familiar.\n <\/p>\n

\n The film lands in theaters on Friday. Its streaming date has yet to be announced.\n <\/p>\n

\n Media observers will be paying close attention to the film\u2019s box office draw and whether the first lady can mobilize her supporters \u2014 and the curious \u2014 to cinemas, which have been struggling to draw consumers in recent years.\n <\/p>\n

\n Donald Trump \u2014 a former reality star \u2014 has not been a popular figure in Hollywood since entering politics in 2015. But Amazon\u2019s decision to license the project indicates the streamer recognizes many Americans\u2019 fascination with the first family.. And Melania Trump, who remains one of the most fascinating and mysterious figures on the planet, will get to share her story with a global streaming audience.\n <\/p>\n

\n \u201cEveryone wants to know. So here it is,\u201d the first lady says in an off-screen voiceover during the trailer \u2014 underscoring an implicit recognition of the public\u2019s curiosity about her.\n <\/p>\n

\n Amazon\u2019s decision to partner with Trump may also be a political calculation \u2014 marking one of tech titans\u2019 many efforts to cozy up to the White House.\n <\/p>\n

\n Asked for comment, an Amazon MGM Studios spokesperson told CNN, \u201cWe licensed the film for one reason and one reason only \u2014 because we think customers are going to love it.\u201d\n <\/p>\n

\n Amazon, according to Beckman, entered a \u201cbidding war\u201d for the project.\n <\/p>\n

\n \u201cWe reached out to all of the big streamers \u2026 and effectively, Amazon MGM came out on top. And a lot of that is because we wanted to not just have a financial payout, we wanted to work with a best-in-class partner,\u201d he said.\n <\/p>\n

\n \u201cMelania\u201d is directed by Brett Ratner and will mark the filmmaker\u2019s first major project since 2017, when he was accused of sexual misconduct<\/a> by numerous women. Ratner has denied the allegations.\n <\/p>\n

\n The film\u2019s success will be a major test for Ratner, as well.\n <\/p>\n

\n \u201cDon\u2019t be surprised if this movie is actually extremely engaging and well made, as Ratner\u2019s last chance to get back in with a highly sought-after Hollywood crowd,\u201d Da Fr\u00e8 told CNN.\n <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"First lady Melania Trump and Amazon MGM Studios face a high-stakes test this week with the release of…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":263323,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[27],"tags":[93,61,60,270],"class_list":{"0":"post-263322","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-movies","8":"tag-entertainment","9":"tag-ie","10":"tag-ireland","11":"tag-movies"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/263322","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=263322"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/263322\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/263323"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=263322"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=263322"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=263322"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}