In the marble halls of the newly redubbed Trump-Kennedy Center, the diamonds were real, but the box office returns were decidedly hollow.
On Friday, the highly anticipated and deeply controversial documentary “Melania” opened in 2,000 theaters across the United States. Backed by a record-breaking $40 million licensing deal from Amazon MGM Studios and a further $35 million marketing blitz, the film was positioned as the cinematic event of the winter. Instead, it has become a lightning rod for criticism, debuting to scathing reviews and reports of near-empty screenings in major international hubs.
Directed by Brett Ratner—marking his first major project since sexual misconduct allegations sidelined his career in 2017—the 104-minute film follows Melania Trump through the 20 days leading up to her husband’s second inauguration. What promised to be a “revealing” portrait has been dismissed by critics as a “shameless infomercial” and a “gilded trash remake” of Jonathan Glazer’s The Zone of Interest.
The $75 Million Gamble
The financial scale of the project has left Hollywood insiders reeling. Amazon’s $40 million payout is the highest price ever paid for a documentary, a figure that becomes even more scrutinized given that Melania Trump retained full editorial control.
The Marketing Machine:
- The Sphere: A massive promotional video was projected onto the exterior of Las Vegas’s Sphere.
- NFL Buy-ins: National TV ads ran during the heat of the NFL playoffs.
- The NYC Bell: Just days before the release, the First Lady rang the opening bell at the New York Stock Exchange to promote the film.
Despite this, the film is on track to earn a projected $5 million in its opening weekend—a fraction of its total investment. In the United Kingdom, some theater chains reported selling as few as one ticket for flagship screenings, with distributors describing sales as “soft.”
A Critical ‘Narcolepsy’
While the First Lady’s supporters gave the film an “A” CinemaScore, professional critics have been nearly unanimous in their distaste. On Rotten Tomatoes, the film debuted with a dismal 11% score, with Metacritic assigning it a 7 out of 100, indicating “overwhelming dislike.”
Critics have taken particular aim at the film’s “glacial” pace and lack of substance. Much of the documentary is devoted to high-stakes fittings for inauguration outfits and a “surreal” Zoom meeting with French First Lady Brigitte Macron.
“It’s an elaborate piece of designer taxidermy,” wrote Xan Brooks for The Guardian. “Horribly overpriced and ice-cold to the touch… two hours of Melania feels like pure, endless hell.”
The ‘Muse Films’ Strategy
The documentary also marks the launch of Muse Films, Melania’s personal production company—named after her Secret Service code name. The film avoids any direct address to the camera, instead showing the First Lady gliding through the gold-leafed corridors of Mar-a-Lago and Trump Tower in silence.
| Statistic | Figure |
| Production Budget | $40 Million |
| Marketing Spend | $35 Million |
| Opening Weekend Est. | $5 Million – $8 Million |
| Critic Score (RT) | 11% |
| Audience Score (RT) | 98% |
Propaganda or Portrait?
The stark divide between audience and critic scores suggests that “Melania” has successfully reached its intended base while alienating the broader movie-going public. For the 49% of the opening-day audience who identified as Republican, the film is a “glamorous” and “thoughtful” tribute to a woman they view as a world leader.
For the rest of the world, however, “Melania” remains as elusive as its subject. As the film prepares for its Prime Video streaming debut in three weeks, it stands as a testament to the “Trump 2.0” era: a high-budget, highly polished spectacle where the truth is in the eye of the stakeholder, and the price of admission is a matter of absolute loyalty.