A. Rahman
The highly anticipated documentary “Melania,” centered on First Lady Melania Trump and produced with support from Amazon MGM Studios, opened in theaters this weekend with unexpectedly solid box office numbers for its genre, even as critics and audiences remain sharply divided. The film grossed around $8.1 million in its opening weekend, the highest domestic launch for a documentary in roughly a decade, according to early industry estimates and box office tracking.
Industry analysts had predicted a modest start, with some estimates placing opening weekend grosses between $1 million and $5 million. Instead, the film’s performance appears to be fuelled by strong turnout in rural and politically conservative regions, where ticket sales significantly outpaced expectations, contributing to its unusual strength for a nonfiction release.
Despite the respectable debut, “Melania” is still unlikely to recoup the $40 million Amazon paid for rights plus the reported $35 million spent on marketing, making its financial success dependent on future streaming revenue and international performance.
The film, directed by Brett Ratner, who returned to filmmaking after earlier career setbacks, tracks a period in Melania Trump’s life, including the 20 days leading up to Donald Trump’s 2025 inauguration. It opened in over 1,700 theaters in North America and elsewhere, a wide release that helped achieve its strong weekend figures despite mixed crowd sizes at individual screenings.
Reactions to the documentary have been highly polarized. Critics have panned the film for its narrative and execution, resulting in very low professional review scores on aggregator sites, with critics describing it as shallow or promotional in tone. The audience response, in contrast, has been much more positive according to exit polls and verified ratings, showing a stark divide between critic and viewer perception.
Some early screenings saw relatively few advance ticket sales, especially in major markets like New York and Los Angeles, while others reported surprisingly strong attendance, highlighting a patchwork of interest driven by regional and political differences.
The project’s unusually high budget for a documentary has also sparked commentary. Some observers questioned whether the scale of Amazon’s investment was typical for nonfiction films, while the director defended the spending as necessary for a high-quality production that will later expand into additional formats beyond theaters.
Whether “Melania” will sustain strong box office momentum or eventually find its largest audience on streaming platforms such as Amazon Prime Video remains to be seen. Distribution plans include an eventual digital release after its theatrical run, which has the potential to broaden viewership and revenue.
Summary:
The Melania Trump documentary opened with a surprisingly strong box office performance, earning around $8.1 million and marking the highest documentary debut in years. Despite this, the film is still unlikely to make back its large purchase and marketing costs in theaters alone, and critics have largely trashed it while some audience scores remain high. Sales have varied widely by region, and the film’s future success may hinge on streaming views and international response.
