We love a good historical drama about what goes on in the White House, and with Natalie Portman landing an Oscar nod for Jackie, we know how well they can be done.
Despite Showtime's The First Lady boasting an all-star cast of Viola Davis, Michelle Pfeiffer, and Gillian Anderson as Michelle Obama, Betty Ford, and Eleanor Roosevelt, it was less well-received, but that's nothing compared to the new Melania Trump documentary.
While we imagine there will eventually be some Hollywood telling of Trump's time in the White House as a follow-up to Ali Abbasi's The Apprentice, there's a real-life look behind the curtain in the form of 2026's Melania.
If having the controversial Brett Ratner behind the camera wasn't enough, there are reports that Melania could flop at the box office. Despite President Donald Trump maintaining that people are flocking to see the documentary film as it's "selling Out, FAST," there are numerous posts online claiming numerous ‘empty’ screenings.
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Amazon apparently paid up to $40 million for the rights to Melania, with shocking reports that it spent a further $35 million on a glossy promo campaign mean it's cost a pretty penny.
Speaking to The New York Times, Ted Hope, former head of production for Amazon Original Movies, said: "This has to be the most expensive documentary ever made that didn’t involve music licensing. How can it not be equated with currying favor or an outright bribe? How can that not be the case?”
It was expected that Melania would sell about $5 million in ticket sales for its opening weekend, spread across 1,700 theaters in the USA and Canada, with a 50-50 split between theaters and distributors.
In the United Kingdom, Vue's multiplex in York noted that it had sold just six seats out of a possible 451 on Melania's first weekend.
BoxOffice Pro balked at the $5 million US opening predictions, pencilling in somewhere between $1 million and $2 million.
While users on social media continue to mock Melania's seemingly tepid ticket sales, others are showing much healthier viewings where it looks like attendance is higher.
Either way, one viral post has shared a Craigslist ad that is apparently paying people to go and see Ratner's documentary – his first movie since he was embroiled in the #MeToo movement.
We have verified that while the Craigslist ad seemed like a legitimate post in the Boston area, it now says: "This posting is being held for review. Current status may be checked by reloading this page."
It invited users to visit any Boston theater showing the documentary and get paid $50 per person to sit through Melania's 104-minute runtime. Although participants are offered $50 compensation, they're told they have to remain there for the entire movie. While we imagine this is some serious trolling rather than Jeff Bezos trying to get butts on seats, the fact that the advert has been suspended suggests you won't be able to make the most of this deal.
Melania follows the FLOTUS' 20 days leading up to President Trump's January 2025 return to the White House, but even if there weren't continued posts joking about ticket sales, the general backlash suggests there might not be a sequel.