MW 'Melania' documentary's $8 million box office is a win for the first lady - but not for Amazon
By Lukas I. Alpert
The film's box office receipts represent a drop in the ocean for Amazon MGM's $75 million investment
President Donald Trump and first lady Melania Trump attend a screening of the documentary film 'Melania' at The Trump-Kennedy Center late last week. (Photo by Samuel Corum/Getty Images)
For the first lady, the "Melania" documentary turned out to be a box-office winner, but for Amazon, maybe not so much.
The film, which followed Melania Trump around for the 20 days ahead of her husband's inauguration last year, brought in an estimated $8 million at the box office in its opening weekend, the biggest draw for a documentary film in a decade.
The total beat expectations which had hovered around $5 million for a film which had opened in close to 2,000 theaters in the U.S. and Canada.
But for Amazon MGM Studios, the box office for the film does not look like it will come even close to the $75 million it paid to acquire and market the movie, making it the most expensive documentary film in history.
While the studio - which splits the box office 50-50 with theater owners - is expected to earn more in coming weeks and eventually from its streaming platform when it becomes available there, the relatively small start makes the possibility of at least breaking even unlikely.
Many industry insiders have been amazed at the amount Amazon was willing to put up for a documentary, a genre that typically doesn't deliver major box office hits. Some critics dismissed the film as little more than a vanity project for the first lady, and an effort by Jeff Bezos's Amazon.com Inc. (AMZN) to curry favor with the president.
Documentaries don't often open in such a wide release, with films in the genre typically opening in limited release at first in markets like New York and Los Angeles.
But the wide opening may have paid off for "Melania" with the film performing more strongly in markets in red states, primarily in the south of the U.S.
According to data from research firm EntTelligence, theaters in rural areas contributed nearly half of the opening-weekend total, which is far higher than what is usually seen. Republican counties contributed about 53% of ticket sales, with the biggest box office results seen in Florida, Texas and Arizona.
Not surprisingly, New York and Los Angeles underperformed compared to those markets.
Data showed that the audience was overwhelmingly older and female - over the age of 55 - with reports revealing a high number of senior citizens at showings in many places. To that end, a review of ticket sales showed the film did far better at earlier showings around 6 p.m. than at later ones, at say 9 p.m.
The film was directed by Brett Ratner, once a top Hollywood filmmaker who was behind the highly successful "Rush Hour" franchise but who hasn't made a feature film since in 2017, when his career was derailed by accusations of sexual misconduct. He denied the allegations at the time.
Late last year, Ratner's name emerged in reports that Paramount Skydance Corp. (PSKY) had agreed to distribute a possible "Rush Hour 4," after being pressed by President Donald Trump.
Producers for "Melania" had argued that the film wasn't intrinsically political and they believed it could appeal beyond President Trump's MAGA supporters, Despite those hopes, the box office figures suggest that the project elicited a largely divided response.
-Lukas I. Alpert
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February 01, 2026 12:53 ET (17:53 GMT)
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