A $75 million documentary about First Lady Melania Trump is struggling to find an audience, with theaters across the United States and United Kingdom reporting virtually no ticket sales just days before its nationwide release Friday.
The film, titled “Melania,” follows the first lady during the 20 days before President Donald Trump’s inauguration. Amazon MGM Studios purchased the rights for $40 million and spent an additional $35 million on marketing the documentary, which is set to open in an estimated 1,500 to 2,000 theaters across the United States.
Social media users have mocked the apparent lack of interest by posting screenshots of cinema showtimes showing scores of unsold seats. Travis Akers, a former naval intelligence officer turned community activist, shared an image of an empty booking screen from Jacksonville, Florida, noting that not a single ticket had been sold for the opening night showing at the busiest movie theater in the metro area.
Multiple theaters in New York and Los Angeles showed similarly empty or sparsely sold screenings. A theater in Lawrenceville, Georgia remained completely unsold, despite Georgia being a state Trump won in the 2024 election. Screenshots from Orange County, California theaters showed zero tickets sold for Saturday night screenings.
Greg Mitchell, an author and documentary filmmaker, reported that at his large nearby multiplex, four screenings on opening day Friday had so far sold only 20 tickets.
Journalist Mike Rothschild, who specializes in QAnon and conspiracy theories, shared similar findings from the LA area, with minimal tickets sold for Friday night showings, adding that the numbers were comparable to the 2006 film that earned just $30 on its opening day and became notorious as one of the lowest-grossing releases in U.S. box office history.
The situation overseas appears equally bleak. In London, Vue Cinemas reported that only one ticket had been sold for a premiere screening at its flagship branch in Islington, with just two tickets sold for the following showing. More than 100 UK cinemas are scheduled to show the film as part of a global rollout spanning 27 countries and approximately 5,000 cinemas worldwide.
Tim Richards, chief executive of Vue Cinemas, told media outlets that ticket sales have been soft and that his company had received numerous emails from the public criticizing the decision to screen the film. Industry analysts have suggested that some cinemas may have agreed to a “four-walling” arrangement, where distributors pay a flat fee for screening space rather than sharing revenue, anticipating limited commercial success.
The National Research Group estimates the film will earn approximately $5 million during its opening weekend. For a documentary, that would represent a respectable performance in isolation, but falls dramatically short of what would be needed to recoup the $75 million total cost of production and marketing.
President Trump has publicly promoted the film, claiming on social media that tickets are selling out fast. Despite his assertions, advance ticket data from major markets tells a different story. The disconnect between promotional messaging and actual sales figures has amplified mockery on social platforms.
Melania Trump served as executive producer on the documentary and held editorial control over the film’s content, trailer and advertising campaign. The first lady appeared on Fox & Friends Tuesday to promote the project.
The documentary was directed by Brett Ratner, who faced multiple sexual misconduct allegations in 2017. Ratner has denied all allegations and no charges were brought. The film represents his first major directing effort since those accusations derailed his Hollywood career. His involvement has added another layer of controversy to the project.
Behind-the-scenes accounts from crew members paint a picture of a chaotic production environment. Two-thirds of the New York crew requested that their names not be added to the film’s credits, according to industry sources. Crew members described the production as chaotic with difficult working conditions.
The film received a private screening at the White House attended by approximately 70 guests, including tech and business leaders. A public premiere is scheduled for Thursday at the Kennedy Center in Washington.
Some locations have reported vandalized movie posters, with defaced promotional materials appearing at various theater locations. The vandalism and poor advance sales reflect what appears to be widespread public indifference or resistance to the project, despite its unprecedented budget and marketing push for a documentary release.
Amazon MGM Studios’ massive investment in “Melania” represents an unusual gamble on a documentary subject with limited proven audience appeal. The studio, owned by billionaire Jeff Bezos, has committed resources more commonly associated with major Hollywood blockbusters than non-fiction films. Industry observers note that even highly successful documentaries rarely generate the returns needed to justify such expenditures.
The global rollout strategy, spanning thousands of screens across nearly 30 countries, further magnifies the financial risk. With each additional theater committed to screening the film, the per-screen average becomes increasingly important as a measure of actual audience interest. Current advance sales suggest those averages will be historically low.
As the Friday release date approaches, the documentary faces the prospect of becoming a cautionary tale about the limits of political branding and promotional spectacle in the entertainment industry. Whether audiences ultimately materialize for weekend screenings remains to be seen, but early indicators suggest one of the most expensive documentary launches in cinema history may also become one of its most notable commercial failures.
Sources:
https://www.thedailybeast.com/melania-trump-mocked-as-her-75m-movie-is-already-struggling/
https://www.aol.com/articles/melania-trump-brutally-mocked-first-182000424.html
https://www.inkl.com/news/55-million-melania-film-heading-for-historic-box-office-collapse-as-it-opens-to-nearly-empty-theaters-nationwide
https://www.ibtimes.co.uk/55-million-melania-film-heading-historic-box-office-collapse-it-opens-nearly-empty-theaters-1774144
https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2026/jan/26/melania-trump-documentary-uk-cinemas-vue-soft-sales
https://www.thedailybeast.com/melania-trump-makes-awkward-plea-for-unity-before-plugging-her-movie-on-fox-news/
https://www.thedailybeast.com/obsessed/ashamed-melania-crew-members-hope-documentary-flops/