Amazon’s ‘Melania’ makes $7M in opening weekend

“Melania,” a documentary about First Lady Melania Trump, is exceeded expectations in the boxand Sunday estimates mean it will make $7.04 million in its opening weekend.

The documentary comes in third for the weekend, behind the Sam Raimi-directed thriller “Send Help” ($20 million) and “Iron Lung” ($17.8 million), a video game feature from YouTuber Mark Fischbach (better known as Markiplier).

Amazon paid $40 million to buy “Melania” and is reportedly spending $35 million to promote it. So while the documentary continues to top pre-release estimates with a $3 to $5 million opening weekend, it’s unlikely to make a profit in theaters.

Amazon’s bid came in at $26 million ahead of Disney’s largest bidder, leading critics to say that the deal had little to do with the box office potential of the movie and the success of the Trump administration. Former video executive Ted Hope, who worked at Amazon from 2015 to 2020, he told The New York Times that the film “must be more expensive than any other film ever made that didn’t include a music license.”

“How can it not be compared to real fraud or bribery?” Hope said. “How can it not be so?”

This is the first film directed by Brett Ratner since 2017, when many women accused him of being abusive and promiscuous. (Ratner has denied the allegations.) Rolling Stone reports Two-thirds of the film’s New York crew requested anonymity in this movie.

While Apple CEO Tim Cook she was on the show “Melania” at the White House last week “Melania” was not reviewed in advance of the critics, and the subsequent comments have been harsh. The documentary now it sits at 7% on Metacritic reviewsto show “great dislike,” and for 10% on Rotten Tomatoes.

New York Times film critic Manohla Dargis explained as “an unprecedented and meticulously curated account of Mrs. Trump’s daily life” in the 20 days leading up to President Trump’s 2025 inauguration.

In a statement, the head of theatrical distribution at Amazon MGM Kevin Wilson described this week as “the first important step in what we see as the longevity of the film and the upcoming series,” which he predicted will have “significant life” for the Amazon Prime streaming service.