A documentary on First Lady Melania Trump, costing a total of $75 million, is experiencing difficulty in drawing audiences. Theaters in the United States and the United Kingdom report almost zero ticket sales just days before its national release on Friday, January 30.
The documentary, named “Melania,” documents the first lady’s life during the 20 days leading up to President Donald Trump’s inauguration. Amazon MGM Studios acquired the rights for $40 million and allocated an additional $35 million for marketing. The documentary is slated to release in approximately 1,500 to 2,000 theaters throughout the United States.
Social media users have highlighted the seeming lack of interest by sharing images of movie showtimes with numerous unsold seats. Former naval intelligence officer and community activist, Travis Akers, posted a screenshot of an empty booking screen from a theater in Jacksonville, Florida. He noted that no tickets had been sold for the opening night showing at the city’s most busy theater.
Several theaters in New York and Los Angeles reported similar situations with empty or scarcely sold showings. A theater in Lawrenceville, Georgia, in a state that Trump won in the 2024 election, showed no tickets sold. Likewise, screenshots from Orange County, California theaters revealed no tickets sold for Saturday evening screenings.
Documentary filmmaker and author Greg Mitchell noted that only 20 tickets had been sold so far for the four screenings on the documentary’s opening day Friday at his local multiplex.
Journalist Mike Rothschild, who focuses on QAnon and conspiracy theories, shared similar information from the Los Angeles area, with minimal tickets sold for Friday evening screenings. He likened the sales figures to a 2006 film that earned a mere $20 on its opening day, gaining notoriety as one of the lowest-grossing releases in U.S. box office history.
“Zyzzyx Road,” a thriller released in 2006 starring Katherine Heigl and Leo Grillo, is the film Rothschild referred to. It is notorious for having one of the lowest box office earnings in U.S. history, making only $30 during its entire run in theaters. This was despite a budget of $1.3 million and being shown for a week at a single theater in Dallas, Texas as a contractual obligation for international distribution.
Overseas, the situation for Melania’s documentary is equally unpromising. Vue Cinemas in London reported that only one ticket had been sold for a premiere screening at its main branch in Islington, with just two tickets sold for the subsequent showing. More than 100 UK cinemas are set to screen the film as part of a global release spanning 27 countries and roughly 5,000 cinemas worldwide.
Vue Cinemas’ CEO, Tim Richards, admitted to media outlets that ticket sales have been lackluster and that his company had received numerous emails from the public criticizing the decision to screen the film. Industry analysts have speculated that some cinemas may have agreed to a “four-walling” arrangement, where distributors pay a flat fee for screening space rather than sharing revenue, in expectation of limited commercial success.
The National Research Group estimates the film will generate around $5 million during its opening weekend. This would be a decent performance for a documentary, but falls significantly short of the estimated $75 million needed to recover the total cost of production and marketing.
President Trump has publicly supported the film, alleging on social media that tickets are selling out quickly. However, advance ticket data from major markets contradicts his claims, leading to increased mockery on social platforms.
Melania Trump served as executive producer on the documentary and maintained editorial control over the content, trailer, and advertising campaign. She appeared on Fox & Friends on Tuesday to promote the project.
The documentary’s director is Brett Ratner, who was accused of multiple instances of sexual misconduct in 2017. Ratner has denied all allegations and no charges were filed. This film marks his first major directorial project since these accusations disrupted his Hollywood career, adding another layer of controversy to the project.
Reports from crew members depict a turbulent production environment. Two-thirds of the New York crew requested their names be omitted from the film’s credits, according to industry sources. Crew members characterized the production as disorganized and the working conditions as challenging.
Around 70 guests attended a private screening of the film at the White House, including leaders in tech and business. A public premiere is scheduled for Thursday at the Kennedy Center in Washington, DC.
Reports of vandalized movie posters at various theater locations have emerged. The defacement and poor advance sales reflect public indifference or opposition to the project, despite the unprecedented budget and marketing campaign for a documentary release.
Amazon MGM Studios’ significant investment in “Melania” represents an unusual risk on a documentary subject with limited proven audience appeal. The studio, owned by billionaire Jeff Bezos, has allocated resources typically associated with major Hollywood blockbusters rather than non-fiction films. Industry observers note that even very successful documentaries rarely generate the returns needed to justify such expenditures.
The strategy of releasing the film globally across thousands of screens in nearly 30 countries increases the financial risk. As each additional theater commits to screening the film, the per-screen average becomes more important as a measure of actual audience interest. Current advance sales suggest these averages will be historically low.
As the release date of the documentary approaches, it faces the possibility of becoming a warning about the limitations of political branding and promotional spectacle in the entertainment industry. Whether audiences will turn out for weekend screenings remains to be seen, but early indicators suggest one of the most expensive documentary launches in cinema history may also become one of its most notable commercial failures.
