‘Melania’ Is About to Enter Top 50 Documentaries at Domestic Box Office

Even though critics overwhelmingly dislike the 2026 film Melania, it’s surprisingly successful at the box office in the United States. It’s on track to become one of the top 50 highest-grossing documentaries ever domestically. While the movie hasn’t done well internationally, its domestic earnings could still increase significantly, as it’s only been out for two weeks. Critics on Rotten Tomatoes have given it a very low score of just 11%, but audiences clearly disagree, giving the film a remarkably high 99% positive rating.

Currently, the film Melania has earned $13.6 million. It needs to reach $15 million to break into the top 50 and surpass Madonna: Truth or Dare. It remains to be seen if it can generate the same level of interest from American viewers as popular documentaries like Monkey Kingdom, Bears, Bugs!, or Sea Monsters: A Prehistoric Adventure.

The film follows Melania Trump during the three weeks before she was set to return to the White House in January 2025.

‘Melania’ Is Surrounded by Controversy

Many films and documentaries have sparked disagreement between viewers and critics, and Melania is no exception. However, this documentary has attracted a particularly large amount of controversy.

The film immediately drew criticism when Amazon MGM Studios financed it, with many questioning the $40 million investment and suggesting it was a political attempt to gain favor with the Trump administration. Further concerns arose with the announcement that Brett Ratner, known for directing films like Rush Hour, X-Men: The Last Stand, and Tower Heist, would be directing.

Melania marks director Brett Ratner’s return to filmmaking after 2014’s Hercules, which starred Dwayne ‘The Rock’ Johnson. It’s also his first film since 2017, when several women – including Olivia Munn, Natasha Henstridge, and Elliott Page – publicly accused him of sexual assault and harassment. These accusations led Warner Bros. to end its working relationship with Ratner, though he has denied any wrongdoing.

Now that the movie Melania is out, a new issue has come to light: parts of the film’s score were taken from Jonny Greenwood’s work on Paul Thomas Anderson’s Phantom Thread. The filmmakers and Greenwood released a joint statement addressing the situation.

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, both Jonny Greenwood and the film’s director, Paul Thomas Anderson, have requested the music be removed from the documentary.

‘Melania’ Has Even Been Pulled From a Theater by Amazon

Amazon MGM Studios

As a film buff, I’m finding the whole situation with the Melania movie fascinating. Apparently, Amazon MGM Studios is really confident it’ll make bank. They’ve actually pulled it from a small theater in Lake Oswego, Oregon – a suburb of Portland, which is known for being pretty liberal. The theater manager, Jordan Perry, explained he showed it partly because January is always slow for new releases, and they needed something to play. It’s interesting to see a controversial film get a screening despite the political climate, and even more so that the studio seems so sure of its financial success that they’re comfortable with that decision.

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So, the real reason the movie got pulled wasn’t anything to do with the film itself, but the theater’s cheeky marketing! They were having fun with it, putting things like “Does Melania wear Prada? Find out Friday!” and “To defeat your enemy, you must know them. Melania starts Friday!” up on their marquee. Apparently, Amazon didn’t appreciate the satire and asked the theater to stop showing the film. It’s a shame, but it seems like the theater’s playful jabs were the problem, not the movie itself.

2026-02-12 00:34

‘Melania’ Is Surrounded by Controversy

‘Melania’ Has Even Been Pulled From a Theater by Amazon

MovieWeb Report: Subscribe and never miss what matters

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