Amazon ‘Melania’ Doc Gets a Slapped Wrist by ‘One Battle After Another’ Director

The Amazon MGM Studios documentary Melania has caught the attention of acclaimed director Paul Thomas Anderson because it features music from his 2017 film, Phantom Thread. The documentary, currently in theaters, offers a behind-the-scenes look at President Donald Trump’s second inauguration in 2025. While it’s a passion project for First Lady Melania Trump, its subject matter is off-putting to some, including Anderson.

Per Variety, a joint statement from P.T.A. and Phantom Thread composer Jonny Greenwood reads:

We’ve learned that a song from the movie Phantom Thread was used in a documentary about Melania Trump. Although Jonny Greenwood doesn’t own the music itself, Universal Pictures should have asked him before allowing its use, as this violates their agreement with him as the composer. Because of this, Jonny Greenwood and director Paul Thomas Anderson have requested the song be removed from the documentary.

The soundtrack for Melania Trump’s film includes songs by iconic artists like Aretha Franklin, Boney M., and The Rolling Stones. It remains to be seen if Amazon will remove the film, and whether other platforms will challenge the documentary’s controversial nature. The film, which debuts on January 30th, has received overwhelmingly negative reviews from the press, despite Trump’s positive outlook. In a review for The Guardian, Xan Brooks described it as a poorly made imitation of Jonathan Glazer’s The Zone of Interest, and likened watching it to an unbearable experience.

Jonny Greenwood is Paul Thomas Anderson’s Secret Weapon

Warner Bros.

Jonny Greenwood’s score for Phantom Thread, starring Daniel Day-Lewis and Vicky Krieps, was his fourth project with director Paul Thomas Anderson. While he first gained fame as a member of the band Radiohead, Greenwood has become a highly sought-after film composer over the past twenty years. He’s worked with several acclaimed directors, including Lynne Ramsey (You Were Never Really Here), Jane Campion (The Power of the Dog), and Pablo Larraín (Spencer), but his collaborations with P.T.A. remain particularly notable.

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Jonny Greenwood first gained recognition for his unsettling score in the 2007 film There Will Be Blood. He later collaborated with the same director on The Master (2012), Inherent Vice (2014), and One Battle After Another (2025), which came eight years after Phantom Thread. Next month, Greenwood is a contender for his first Oscar for Best Original Score, facing competition from Max Richter (Hamnet), Jerskin Fendrix (Bugonia), Alexandre Desplat (Frankenstein), and Ludwig Göransson (Sinners).

2026-02-09 20:02

Jonny Greenwood is Paul Thomas Anderson’s Secret Weapon

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