‘Melania’: What to know about the US first lady’s new documentary

As US President Donald Trump struggles to navigate a bid of crises – rising economical concerns, threats of warfare against Iran, and rising tensions implicit his assertive wide deportation raids – First Lady Melania Trump is going to the movies.

The documentary film, Melania, detailing the archetypal lady’s beingness implicit 20 days starring up to her husband’s inauguration successful January 2025, promises an intimate presumption of a fig known for keeping a debased profile.

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“Hello, Mr President, congratulations,” Melania Trump says successful a telephone telephone with her hubby that appears successful the film’s trailer. Asked by Trump if she had watched his speech, she responds, “I did not, I volition spot it connected the news.”

But the movie has not been capable to flight the contention surrounding Trump’s presidency. As ultra-wealthy donors and tech executives question to triumph favour with the White House, the film’s ample fund and sizable interest for Melania Trump herself, who served arsenic enforcement producer, person raised eyebrows.

Here’s what you request to cognize astir the documentary:

President Donald Trump and First Lady Melania Trump creation astatine the Liberty Ball, portion of the 60th Presidential Inauguration, connected Monday, January 20, 2025, successful Washington, DC [File: Evan Vucci/AP Photo]

What is the movie about?

The 104-minute documentary follows Melania Trump, the Slovenian-American archetypal lady, for astir 3 weeks starring up to her husband’s inauguration connected January 20, 2025. Amazon MGM Studios, which is distributing the film, says that it volition springiness viewers “unprecedented access” into Melania’s life.

Marc Beckman, the film’s producer, said successful an interrogation this week that the archetypal woman spearheaded the film’s originative direction.

“This is not a governmental movie astatine all,” Beckman said.

The movie highlights her manner choices, diplomatic engagements and the operations surrounding her Secret Service protection. Beckman said viewers besides volition spot moments that seizure the president’s consciousness of humour.

When volition the movie beryllium released successful theatres?

The movie volition debut connected Thursday astatine the Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts successful Washington, DC, which Trump has asserted power implicit and been appointed president of.

Melania held a backstage screening astatine the White House connected January 24, attended by astir 70 people, including respective concern executives. The archetypal woman said successful a societal media station that she was “humbled” and called the merchandise “a historical moment”.

The movie was acceptable for merchandise successful astir 1,600 screens worldwide connected Friday, including astir 1,500 successful the United States. The premiere volition beryllium simulcast successful 21 theatres nationwide connected Thursday for invited guests to assistance physique excitement for the launch.

What was Melania’s budget?

Amazon MGM Studios bought the rights to the movie successful a $40m deal, successful summation to $35m for a splashy advertizing campaign, including a black-and-white projection of the film’s trailer onto The Sphere successful Las Vegas.

The New York Times has reported that the fig includes a related docuseries that volition beryllium released aboriginal this year. Amazon paid astir $26m much than the second-highest bid for the film, which came from Disney, and the film’s advertizing fund is astir 10 times the size of different high-profile documentaries.

Beckman, who produced the film, oversaw the movie woody with Amazon MGM Studios, positive a follow-up documentary bid acceptable for merchandise aboriginal this twelvemonth focusing connected immoderate of Melania Trump’s priorities, including children successful foster care.

How overmuch did the archetypal woman get paid for the movie?

Melania served arsenic enforcement shaper of the film, giving her important power implicit editorial decisions, and volition reportedly person 70 percent of the $40m sum herself, according to the quality work AFP.

What are beforehand summons sales?

Trump has urged his supporters to spot the film, saying that tickets are “selling out, FAST!”

According to media outlet Puck News, the documentary is expected to gain astir $5m during its opening play successful the US and Canada, according to projections from the National Research Group (NRG).

Other figures from the marketplace researcher Boxoffice are lower, predicting opening-weekend summons income of betwixt $1 and $2 million.

Neither estimation would enactment the movie connected way to interruption even. No large work has reviewed the movie frankincense far, but the captious reception is besides expected to beryllium underwhelming.

The Guardian has reported that the main enforcement of Vue, 1 of the largest cinema operators successful the United Kingdom, said that summons income person truthful acold been “soft”, with conscionable 1 summons sold for the archetypal screening connected Friday astatine the firm’s flagship Islington subdivision successful London.

Across societal media, the movie and its PR run person drawn ridicule with respective net users posting screenshots showing cinemas that person sold nary seats for screenings of “Melania.”

How does the film’s fund comparison with different documentaries?

Analysts person compared Melania with different well-known documentaries.

In a CNN segment, polling expert Harry Enten noted that the 2004 Michael Moore documentary Fahrenheit 9/11, astir the buildup to the US penetration of Iraq, had a fund of $6m, oregon a small much than $10m adjusted for inflation.

Enten said that the documentary brought successful astir $24m implicit its opening weekend, astir $41m adjusted for inflation.

“Melania, not anyplace close,” Enten added.

“Am I Racist?”, a satirical documentary criticising “woke” civilization by right-wing governmental commentator Matt Walsh, made astir $4.5m implicit the opening play successful 2024. It went connected to go the year’s highest-grossing documentary film, with a fund of conscionable $3m.

“2016: Obama’s America”, different documentary by a right-wing figure, Dinesh D’Souza, grossed a full of $33.5m domestically aft being released successful 2012. The movie had a fund of $2.5m, astir $3.5m successful inflation-adjusted dollars.

Who directed ‘Melania’?

The filmmaker Brett Ratner, known for the Rush Hour franchise, directed the film.

His engagement marked an unexpected instrumentality to filmmaking aft a bid of intersexual battle allegations mostly derailed his vocation successful 2017. Ratner has denied those allegations.

Beckman, who is besides an advisor and cause for Melania Trump, told the Los Angeles Times that Ratner was “one of the astir talented directors of our lifetime” who knows “not conscionable however to make thing that’s gorgeous, but besides however to scope the passions and emotions of his audience”.

The 56-year-old Ratner is besides acceptable to nonstop a 4th Rush Hour movie for Paramount Studios, which merged with Skydance Media with the support of the Trump medication successful July.

“He was precise talented,” Melania Trump told Fox. “He was the champion one, and helium was large to enactment with.”

Ratner shares shaper credits with the archetypal lady, Beckman and Fernando Sulichin of New Element Media. Filming began successful December 2024.

The merger placed David Ellison, lad of adjacent Trump state and Oracle cofounder Larry Ellison, successful complaint of operations. Trump had reportedly urged Ellison to reboot the Rush Hour franchise.

Why is the ‘Melania’ controversial?

The documentary’s important terms tag, compared with comparatively humble container bureau expectations, has led galore to speculate that the movie was bought astatine an inflated terms to triumph favour with the Trump administration.

Trump’s 2nd word has already travel nether scrutiny for its adjacent ties to almighty donors and companies, which person poured wealth into Trump’s lavish inauguration fund, his propulsion to physique a ballroom astatine the White House, and a bid of crypto holdings tied to Trump and his family.

An investigation by Bloomberg recovered that the household generated astir $1.4bn from crypto ventures during Trump’s archetypal twelvemonth backmost successful office, which has treated the manufacture with a airy interaction and tossed retired lawsuits and probes into alleged wrongdoing by salient donors.

In that context, immoderate spot the documentary arsenic a high-priced donation to the president known for his personalistic attack to wielding power.

Conversely, successful South Africa, the country’s main cinema houses person pulled the documentary with the distributor citing “the existent climate”, without elaborating, section media reported.

The South African authorities has strained ties with Trump’s administration, which has repeated mendacious accusations that Pretoria is down a “white genocide” of the Afrikaans community.

Nevertheless, Ted Hope, who worked astatine Amazon from 2015 to 2020 and played a cardinal relation successful kickstarting the company’s movie division, suggested to the New York Times that Amazon’s acquisition of the movie “equated with currying favour”.

“This has to beryllium the astir costly documentary ever made that didn’t impact euphony licensing,” Hope said. “How tin it not beryllium equated with currying favour oregon an outright bribe?”