Melania Trump signs $40,000,000 Amazon deal for documentary on her life and it's already causing controversy
Melania Trump has signed a deal with Amazon for a documentary on her life story.
It sounds like Jimmy "MrBeast" Donaldson will have to make room for someone else, and while Beast Games is still all anyone is talking about, a very different kind of celebrity could soon be coming for his streaming service crown.
Amazon has cashed in on MrBeast's popularity with Beast Games, but looking for some different content, the streaming service has apparently landed a lucrative $40 million deal with Melania Trump.
With Donald Trump about to step back into the White House for his second term, the intrigue surrounding the President-elect's wife is sure to soar. Although Melania is said to have met Donald Trump all the way back in 1998, there's plenty of mystery surrounding their relationship and what led to them eventually tying the knot in 2005.
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She’s continued to hit the headlines as the former First Lady of the United States and is standing by her husband's side as she’s poised to claim that title again.
As first reported by Puck News, Melania Trump has secured the eye-watering $40 million deal that will cover at least two projects over the next four years.
The headliner is the aforementioned documentary that will be directed by X-Men: The Last Stand and Rush Hour's Brett Ratner. The documentary will give us an unprecedented look into Melania's private life, including cameos from her husband and her son, Barron Trump.
The documentary is due to get a small theatrical release before landing on Prime Video, followed by an 'undisclosed two-to-three-episode follow-up docuseries' on the First Lady. Melania is said to participate in both, as well as serve as an executive producer alongside Fernando Sulichin.
Sulichin previously worked on Oliver Stone's The Putin Interviews and had several sit-downs with Vladimir Putin.
In terms of a bidding war, Amazon reportedly outbid both Disney and Paramount whereas neither Netflix nor Apple put in a bid.
There's already a lot of controversy surrounding the news, especially due to Ratner's involvement. Following Warner Bros.’ announcement that it wouldn't be renewing a 450-million co-producing deal with his RatPac entertainment company in April 2018, Ratner has largely shied away from Hollywood. It comes after multiple women came forward with accusations of sexual misconduct against him during the #MeToo movement. Ratner has denied these allegations, with the Melania documentary marking his potential comeback to the industry.
Elsewhere, the $40 million price tag and the fact the deal has been inked by Amazon has raised a few eyebrows.
Like concerns that Mark Zuckerberg has introduced sweeping changes at Meta to appease Donald Trump, there are theories that Amazon has nabbed Melania so Jeff Bezos can curry favor with the POTUS.
The relationships between Zuckerberg and Bezos with Trump have been fraught at times, and with Elon Musk firmly by Trump's side as the co-head of the Department of Government Efficiency, other tech moguls look to be bending the knee. This latest news comes after Amazon was among the big tech companies that have donated $1 to the Trump inauguration.
As for Melania opening herself up to the world, Page Six reports on one source, saying: "She’s been very savvy about what she says … Melania has gotten more comfortable speaking in front of people and on TV...She is more confident and has taken full control of her public image which she knows is worth millions and she’s ready to be paid for the work she puts into the doc and revealing more about herself."