When it comes to Melania, box office success is in the eye of the beholder.
In its second weekend in theaters, the pricey documentary about first lady Melania Trump is on track to gross about $2.4 million from 2,003 theaters in North America. That represents a steep 67-percent dropoff after a stronger-than-expected opening weekend, but Amazon MGM is insisting that things are going great.
In a seemingly preemptive statement issued Saturday, distribution chief Kevin Wilson praised Melania‘s “strong theatrical performance” as “a critical first moment that validates our wholistic distribution strategy, building awareness, engagement, and provides momentum ahead of the film’s eventual debut on Prime Video.”
Melania is projected to finish the weekend with a domestic tally of about $13.4 million, which would typically be an impressive yield for a documentary that’s not a concert film. But Melania isn’t a typical documentary: Amazon MGM reportedly spent $40 million to acquire the film and another $35 million to market it, making it possibly the most expensive documentary of all time.
On its current trajectory, Melania is unlikely to recoup that $75 million in theaters. Amazon MGM, however, has maintained that it will ultimately score when it comes to the doc’s streaming viewership on Prime Video, noting that the price tag also includes a companion docuseries.
“Together, theatrical and streaming represent two distinct value creating moments that amplify the film’s overall impact,” Wilson said, asserting that exit polls have indicated interest in revisiting the doc on Prime Video in addition to checking out the docuseries.
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The studio has stated that it plans “to recoup some of the cost of the film when it streams on Prime Video through advertising and Prime signups.” A streaming release date has yet to be announced.
Melania, which provides a behind-the-scenes look at the 20 days before her husband, President Donald Trump, was inaugurated in 2025, also marks the first film from director Brett Ratner since he was accused of sexual misconduct by multiple women in 2017. Ratner has denied the accusations.
Reviews for Melania have been mostly negative.
Brook Rushton/20th Century Studios
Melania‘s second weekend also coincides with the Super Bowl, which marks the biggest TV event of the year and tends to slow the box office to a halt. This year has been no exception, with Sam Raimi’s Send Help, also in its second weekend, remaining in first place with an estimated $10 million (a 47% decline from its debut).
Another holdover, Iron Lung, is coming in at third. The impressive indie effort from the YouTube creator known as Markiplier shocked Hollywood by raking in about $17 million in its opening weekend. The gory horror flick reportedly cost $3 million to make and is projected to snag another $6 million this weekend.
As bigger studios tend to avoid launching films during Super Bowl weekend, several new releases from independent distributors managed to crack into the list of top earners. They include the Angel Studios rom-com Solo Mio (with an estimated $7.2 million) and the K-pop concert documentary Stray Kids: The Dominate Experience (with an estimated $5.5 million).