Melania Trump documentary breaks records
The documentary film Melania, dedicated to U.S. First Lady Melania Trump, earned $7 million during its opening weekend at the U.S. box office, Qazinform News Agency reports.
This result marks the highest opening for a documentary film in the U.S. in the past ten years. For comparison, the previous notable benchmark in the genre was recorded in 2023, when the documentary After Death grossed about $5 million in its debut weekend.
The film premiered on January 29 at the Kennedy Center in Washington, before being released to a wide international theatrical run.
The project was acquired by Amazon MGM Studios for $40 million and was supported by a large-scale marketing campaign estimated at around $35 million. As a result, the opening weekend box office covered only part of the total production and promotional costs.
The documentary features episodes from Melania Trump’s life in the period leading up to the second inauguration of U.S. President Donald Trump in January 2025, focusing on both her public and private activities during that time.
Plans to release a documentary about Melania Trump were first announced in January 2025, when Amazon Prime Video revealed that it had secured exclusive rights to distribute the project in theaters and on its streaming platform.
Filming began in December 2024. The project was produced by Melania Trump herself along with Fernando Sulichin of New Element Media, while the film was directed by Brett Ratner. Amazon representatives noted that the documentary offers an “unprecedented behind the scenes look” at the life of the U.S. First Lady.
