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Melania’ Opens to Solid U.S. Box Office as Amazon’s $75 Million Backing Faces Scrutiny

Critics decry the glossy, tightly controlled film, which reports say delivered a $28 million payout to Melania Trump.

Overview

  • The feature-length documentary covers the 20 days before Donald Trump’s second inauguration, with Melania Trump both subject and executive producer.
  • Amazon/MGM reportedly paid about $40 million for rights and roughly $35 million for marketing, putting the film into roughly 3,300 cinemas worldwide.
  • Early U.S. weekend grosses are estimated at about $8.1 million, while many international screenings drew sparse crowds with some near-empty showings reported in Germany and the U.K.
  • Rolling Stone and other outlets report that roughly two-thirds of the New York production crew asked to be omitted from the credits, and director Brett Ratner’s selection and on-set conduct drew complaints.
  • The premiere at the renamed Trump-Kennedy Center drew Jeff Bezos and Andy Jassy, and reviewers widely describe the movie as apolitical image-making rather than an informative documentary.