{"id":268173,"date":"2026-01-28T10:41:09","date_gmt":"2026-01-28T10:41:09","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/268173\/"},"modified":"2026-01-28T10:41:09","modified_gmt":"2026-01-28T10:41:09","slug":"melania-trump-documentary-box-office-will-it-work","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/268173\/","title":{"rendered":"Melania Trump Documentary Box Office: Will It Work?"},"content":{"rendered":"

\n\tIf all goes well, First Lady\u00a0Melania Trump<\/a>\u00a0and Amazon MGM Studios will be able to boast the biggest opening in a decade for a documentary when her new film, the Brett Ratner<\/a>-directed Melania, unfurls in more than 1,500 theaters across the U.S. this weekend.<\/p>\n

\n\tThat translates to making enough to pass up Angel Studios\u2019 doc After Death, which launched to exactly $5 million from 2,645 theaters in 2023, according to Comscore.<\/p>\n

\n\tWhile leading tracking service NRG is indeed predicting a launch in the $5 million range for Melania, exhibitors aren\u2019t so bullish, based on sluggish ticket sales. Some think it could do far less. Social media is rife with theater maps showing auditoriums where only a smattering of tickets have been sold (it\u2019s hard to remember a doc that\u2019s been so scrutinized in terms of its opening number). But in ultra-conservative hubs, such as El Plano, Texas, many shows are nearly full. And on Friday, some showings at two of the country\u2019s busiest cinemas, AMC Lincoln Square in New York City and AMC Century City in Los Angeles, have sold a decent number of tickets. The bigger question is whether it can sustain an audience in the weeks ahead before it goes to Prime.<\/p>\n

\n\tIf Melania does get to $5 million, it would also be one of the top nationwide openings ever for a doc that isn\u2019t a concert pic or a Disney nature title. The major caveat: most documentaries, including many of Michael Moore\u2019s films, opened in limited runs, although Moore\u2019s Fahrenheit 9\/11 opened wide to a record-setting $23.9 million from 868 theaters on its way to becoming the top-grossing doc of all time domestically ($119.2 million). <\/p>\n

\n\tAmazon MGM revealed Melania\u2018s theater count, along with marketing highlights, on Tuesday. The studio believes the final publicity push, including a glitzy premiere Jan. 29 at the newly renamed Trump-Kennedy Center that will be attended by President Donald Trump alongside his wife, will ignite sales. (He\u2019s also supporting the film via Truth Social.)<\/p>\n

\n\tMelania is an enormous gamble for all involved \u2014 not to mention that the true First Lady of the weekend box office<\/a> will be Rachel McAdams, whose new thriller Send Help, from 20th Century and Disney, is tracking to top the chart with $14 million-plus.<\/p>\n

\n\tGranted, the two films couldn\u2019t be more different. But opening any movie at the struggling box office, not to mention a doc, isn\u2019t for the faint of heart, and Melania Trump \u2014 along with the White House \u2014 risks having to endure headlines calling the movie a bomb if it only clears $2 million to $4 million. It could also call into question the strength of Trump\u2019s core support base.<\/p>\n

\n\tAnd then there\u2019s Ratner. Melania is his first film since he was cancelled nearly a decade ago after being accused of sexual misconduct and harassment. (He has denied any wrongdoing.)<\/p>\n

\n\tAmazon MGM shelled out a hefty $40 million to license the history-making documentary \u2014 it\u2019s the first time a film featuring and made by a sitting First Lady has appeared on the big screen \u2014 along with a docuseries for Prime from Melania Trump and Ratner. (It has yet to be announced when Melania will hit Amazon\u2019s streaming service.)<\/p>\n

\n\tThe film was shot during the 20 days leading up to the 2025 inauguration.<\/p>\n

\n\t\u201cStep inside Melania Trump\u2019s world as she orchestrates inauguration plans, navigates the complexities of the White House transition, and moves her family back to the Nation\u2019s Capital. With exclusive footage capturing critical meetings, private conversations, and never-before-seen environments,\u00a0Melania showcases Mrs. Trump\u2019s return to one of the world\u2019s most powerful roles,\u201d Amazon MGM said in its preview memo.<\/p>\n

\n\tParamount and Disney also bid for rights to Melania in the early part of 2025, following Donald Trump\u2019s reelection and the glory days of the MAGA movement, but much has changed for the president, whose policies have seen his popularity ratings tumble and prompted division within his own circles. And the doc opens in the wake of the Jan. 24 death of an ICU nurse in Minnesota who was shot by ICE agents.<\/p>\n

\n\tStill, the doc is a chance for Melania Trump to show that she isn\u2019t just the wife of the president as she pursues a producing career via her new company, Muse. She and fellow Melania producer Marc Beckman, her longtime adviser and manager, have been a driving force throughout the marketing campaign, much of which has relied on Fox News to spread the word. And while Amazon may have pitched the idea of simulcasting the premiere in 21 theaters nationwide, those who will attend the screenings were organized by friends and organizations hand-picked by the First Lady and her team, according to sources.<\/p>\n

\n\tMelania is also hoping for a major boost on Jan. 28 when the New York Stock Exchange provides a live broadcast of the First Lady ringing the NYSE Opening Bell to mark the upcoming release of the film. Amazon MGM bought pricey spots in CBS\u2019s NFL AFC Wild Card game on Jan. 11\u00a0and Fox\u2019s divisional game on Jan. 17.\u00a0Further enticements: a commemorative movie ticket and popcorn buckets to celebrate the release in theaters.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\n\tSources close to the project say Amazon MGM is spending $35 million on the marketing campaign; the domestic spend is likely in the $15 million range, while another $10 million is being spent overseas. That\u2019s as much as some might spend on a smaller feature, but not a documentary. Amazon MGM hasn\u2019t yet provided an entire list of countries where Melania will play overseas, but the international\u00a0campaign included placements in cities including Mexico City, Tokyo and London, according to Amazon\u2019s preview note. It will also play in parts of the Middle East, according to sources.<\/p>\n

\n\tIn the U.S., $3.5 million was spent on national linear TV ads between Dec. 22 and Jan. 23, according to iSpot, a media measurement and tracking firm.\u00a0That\u2019s less than would be spent on a narrative feature film, including Send Help, though the figure doesn\u2019t include spots airing during the NFL conference championship games last weekend, which can cost upwards of $1 million, or last Saturday\u2019s UFC fight.<\/p>\n

\n\tThe money spent paid off, with household impressions reaching more than 461 million. Top reach by networks was Fox News (37 percent), CBS (8.8 percent), Fox (7.2 percent), ABC (6.8 percent) and Hallmark (5.7 percent). Outside of NFL games (10.8 percent), top programs by reach were all Fox News shows: The Five (7.6 percent), The Ingraham Angle (4.7 percent), America\u2019s Newsroom (3.7 percent) and Fox & Friends (2.9 percent). And the launch of the film\u2019s trailer included an integration with Fox News that featured an interview with the First Lady (she spoke about the importance of a theatrical release).\u00a0In more recent days, Melania spots have also appeared on CNN.<\/p>\n

\n\tIn terms of trailer play, Melania isn\u2019t skewing conservative and is instead targeting older females, playing before such films as The Housemaid. And distributors with upcoming docs also want in on the action; Neon and Universal International are playing a trailer for Baz Luhrmann\u2019s upcoming EPiC: Elvis Presley in Concert before Melania, for example.<\/p>\n

\n\tAmazon MGM is not previewing Melania for critics, but the First Lady\u00a0and Ratner<\/a>\u00a0held a private screening <\/a>at the White House last weekend, just as a major snowstorm hit much of the United States, and as Minneapolis erupted in violence over the ICE shooting of a protester.<\/p>\n

\n\tThe black-tie event, which was not promoted or advertised, took place in the East Room of the White House and attracted about 70 VIP guests, including Queen Rania of Jordan; Zoom CEO Eric Yuan; Apple CEO Tim Cook; New York Stock Exchange CEO Lynn Martin; AMD CEO Lisa Su; Mike Tyson; socialite and Fiat heiress Azzi Agnelli; self-help guru Tony Robbins; fashion designer Adam Lippes; and photographer Ellen von Unwerth, who photographed the poster for the film. Many of the invitees were subsequently slammed for attending the screening because of the ICE shooting.<\/p>\n

\n\tUnlike Melania, the Sam Raimi-directed Send Help is expected to overperform (some cinema owners are predicting as much as $16 million or $17 million). The darkly comic horror-thriller stars\u00a0McAdams\u00a0and Dylan O\u2019Brien as coworkers stranded on a desert island, and sports a glowing 93 percent critics\u2019 score on Rotten Tomatoes. According to THR\u2018s review<\/a>, the R-rated pic \u201cboasts an audacious concept that is superbly realized by Raimi\u2019s filmmaking, which milks every bizarre situation for all it\u2019s worth.\u201d<\/p>\n

\n\tJason Statham\u2019s newest action pic, Shelter, also enters the fray and is hoping for a domestic debut in the high single-digits for Black Bear\u2019s new U.S. distribution arm.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"If all goes well, First Lady\u00a0Melania Trump\u00a0and Amazon MGM Studios will be able to boast the biggest opening…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":268174,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[27],"tags":[2478,93,61,60,22680,270],"class_list":{"0":"post-268173","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-movies","8":"tag-box-office","9":"tag-entertainment","10":"tag-ie","11":"tag-ireland","12":"tag-melania-trump","13":"tag-movies"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/268173","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=268173"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/268173\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/268174"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=268173"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=268173"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=268173"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}