Melania Trump Documentary Stuns Box Office in Surprise Surge
Melania Trump’s controversial documentary shocks Hollywood with a $7M opening weekend at the box office, defying critics and smashing early projections.
The controversial documentary "Melania," about First Lady Melania Trump, has surprised everyone at the box office. According to estimates released Sunday, February 1st, it grossed $7 million in its opening weekend.
Directed by Brett Ratner, who has been largely absent from Hollywood since denying sexual assault allegations in 2017, "Melania" was projected to open between $3 million and $5 million. The film chronicles the 20 days leading up to President Donald Trump's second inauguration in 2025, told from his wife's perspective. Final box office figures will be announced on February 2nd.
In an interview a week before the release, Jeff Bock, senior media analyst at Exhibitor Relations, said, "Anything over $1 million is a huge number. It would mean a lot of people who don't typically go to the movies went to see this film."
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"Melania" performed so well that it landed in third place in the domestic top five for the weekend. It trailed two horror-based debuts – the survival comedy/thriller "Send Help" ($20 million) and the indie horror film "Iron Lung" ($17.9 million) – but outperformed the Disney sequel "Zootopia 2" ($5.8 million), now in its ninth box office weekend, and the new Jason Statham action film "Shelter" ($5.5 million).
Critics largely panned the documentary – on Rotten Tomatoes, "Melania" has a Tomatometer score of just 11% positive. However, the website's audience-driven Popcornmeter is at a 99% approval rating, and the film also received an A grade in CinemaScore polling. Kevin Wilson, head of domestic theatrical distribution, said in a statement, “We are very encouraged by the strong opening and positive audience reaction. ‘Melania’s’ initial box office performance has exceeded our expectations.”
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The rollout for “Melania” has been more extensive than for most documentaries. Melania Trump hosted a private screening of the film at the White House a week earlier, and on January 29, she attended the film’s premiere at the Trump Kennedy Center in Washington, D.C., along with numerous other guests. The VIP list included rapper Nicki Minaj; media personality Dr. Phil; and cabinet members Pete Hegseth and Robert F. Kennedy Jr.
Even though “Melania” has exceeded box office expectations, it will still take some time for it to become profitable: Jeff Bezos’ Amazon MGM Studios acquired the film and its accompanying documentary series for $40 million and reportedly spent an additional $35 million on marketing. Both are expected to stream on Prime Video later this year, and Amazon will recoup some of the costs of “Melania” through advertising and streaming service sign-ups.
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