Amazon Increasing Melania Trump Documentary Screenings By 300 Theaters After $7M Box Office Debut

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Because so many people wanted to see the documentary about Melania Trump directed by Brett Ratner, Amazon MGM Studios has decided to make more copies available.

The film Melania had a surprisingly strong opening weekend, earning $7 million on 1,778 screens starting January 30th. This success led Amazon to increase the number of showings this weekend, expanding the movie’s availability to over 2,000 theaters (according to Business Insider).

The film earned $7 million in its opening weekend, making it the highest-grossing documentary debut since One Direction: This Is Us opened with $15.8 million in 2013. However, it still has a considerable way to go to reach the total earnings of Michael Moore’s Fahrenheit 9/11, which remains the highest-grossing documentary of all time with $119 million.

Taylor Swift’s The Eras Tour film earned an impressive $180 million in the US in 2023, exceeding previous records. However, box office experts categorize it as a concert film, not a typical documentary.

The documentary Melania is aiming to achieve box office numbers comparable to those of successful documentaries like March of the Penguins ($77 million), Justin Bieber: Never Say Never ($73 million), This Is It ($72 million), Under the Sea 3D ($36 million), and 2016: Obama’s America ($33 million).

Amazon is likely to show the popular documentary in more theaters to attract a larger audience, considering they spent $40 million to buy it and an additional $35 million on marketing.

While audiences seem to enjoy the new film about Melania Trump, critics haven’t been impressed. It currently has an 8% rating on Rotten Tomatoes, and reviewers have largely criticized it as self-indulgent, arrogant, and lacking substance. Many see it as more of a promotional piece than a genuine portrait.

However, audience reaction has been very different. Melania has received a 99% positive rating on Rotten Tomatoes’ Popcornmeter, a score so high that some people doubt its accuracy. While Rotten Tomatoes has had issues with manipulated ratings before, they claim this one is genuine.

Versant, the company that owns RT, stated that the audience reviews for the Melania documentary haven’t been affected by bots. They also confirmed that the reviews shown on Popcornmeter are from verified viewers – meaning they actually purchased tickets to see the film.

It’s still unclear if showing the film in more theaters – over 2,000 now – will result in more people buying tickets and sharing positive reviews, particularly those mentioning Melania. The film will likely face challenges during its second weekend, as many people will be watching the Super Bowl instead of going to the movies on Sunday.

Melania is competing with several new releases in theaters, including the horror films Send Help and Iron Lung, as well as the K-Pop concert film Stray Kids: The dominATE Experience.

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2026-02-07 21:40