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Tag: melania

  • Amazon’s ‘Melania’ documentary stumbles in second weekend | TechCrunch

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    After a better-than-expected opening weekend in theaters, box office for Amazon’s “Melania” fell 67%, to an estimated $2.37 million, in its second weekend.

    The documentary about First Melania Trump has grossed a total of $13.5 million so far (almost all of that in the United States), which means it’s extremely unlikely the film — which Amazon spent $40 million to acquire and $35 million to market — will break even in theaters.

    Before “Melania”’s release, a former Amazon film executive asked how the price tag could be motivated by anything other than “currying favor” with the Trump administration or “an outright bribe.” 

    Moviegoing typically slows during Super Bowl weekend, but the weekend’s top film, “Send Help,” only declined 47%. And after placing third on the charts last weekend, “Melania” is ninth this time.

    Perhaps anticipating discussion about the film’s decline, Amazon released a statement from its head of domestic theatrical distribution Kevin Wilson, who said, “Together, theatrical and streaming represent two distinct value creating moments that amplify the film’s overall impact.”

    “Melania” received universally negative reviews from critics, but its 99% audience rating on Rotten Tomatoes was so good that the site put out a statement insisting that the score was real.

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    Anthony Ha

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  • What Critics Are Saying About the Melania Documentary

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    Writes William Thomas at Empire:

    In 1935, Adolf Hitler commissioned director Leni Riefenstahl to make Triumph Of The Will, a highly nationalistic and likely heavily staged account of the Nazi Party’s 1934 Nuremberg rallies. It was a key moment in the history of propaganda films, a coldly fascistic conceptualisation of Germany as the Nazis hoped to recast it, produced with full participation and collaboration of an authoritarian regime. Melania, on the other hand — a new documentary about Melania Trump, wife of President Donald Trump — is more like Triumph of the Shill. It is political propaganda at its most transparent — cynical, pointless, and very, very boring.

    He also notes the missed opportunity:

    There is no drama to speak of, no tension, no narrative arc. Melania’s life story is undeniably fascinating: a former model and beauty queen, born in Soviet-era Yugoslavia, an immigrant who improbably clawed her way to the top, making the White House her home — twice. Within her life, you can surely find the story of America in microcosm: Give me your tired, your poor, your huddled masses, yearning to start a luxury jewellery line! As a public figure who rarely gives interviews, she is a mystery, a cipher hiding behind designer sunglasses, surely waiting for her story to be told.

    But this film is uninterested in backstory, in delving even remotely under the surface.

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    Chas Danner

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  • Melania Movie Review: All the Money In the World Can’t Make Good Propaganda

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    Melania, Brett Ratner’s Melania Trump movie, is a purportedly serious film that plays like a mockumentary. If you were making a movie that parodied the current first lady of the United States, I’m not sure what you’d do differently.

    This interminable, nearly two-hour long film features a running voiceover by Melania, leading us through crucial moments in the twenty days leading up to her husband’s second inauguration: choosing fabric for her coat, making sure her dress is the right length, approving a design plan for the dinner, and perusing furniture for Barron’s future bedroom. (Sadly, we never get to see which chest of drawers she picks.) “My creative vision is always clear,” she intones, returning to that notion throughout.

    This is a work of propaganda, but director Brett Ratner is no Leni Riefenstahl. Missing are the German filmmaker’s awe-inspiring visuals and hypnotic edits; instead, Ratner substitutes endless shots of the gaudy, excessive Trump aesthetic as Melania floats through Trump Tower, private jets, motorcades, and gala dinners until she lands at the White House. The doc’s opening shot is a panorama of Mar-a-Lago in all its gilded glory, accompanied by the Rolling Stones’ “Gimme Shelter.” “Rape, murder, it’s just a shot away,” Jagger’s voice promises.

    Before he was exiled from Hollywood by sexual assault accusations (he has denied the claims), Ratner was best known for directing the Rush Hour movies—so I at least expected propulsive pacing and drama. No such luck: We might as well be watching gold paint dry.

    It’s hard to tell whether Melania herself finds it all as dull as I did: she remains inscrutable through most of the film, her face frozen into an elegant mask. The only times she genuinely lights up are when Ratner coaxes her to sing along with her favorite song, Michael Jackson’s “Billie Jean,” and later while dancing to the Village People’s “YMCA” at an inaugural event. At several points Melania refers to the death of her mother with sadness, and even has the cameras trail her to St Patrick’s Cathedral, where she lights candles. But throughout, there is no perceptible change in her demeanor.

    That departure could’ve been a great segue into a segment about Melania’s past—her childhood in Slovenia, her modeling career, background information that might give context to her transformation into Trump’s consort. But instead, the doc sticks with the minutiae of the march toward Trump’s second term. Unmentioned is the January 6th, 2021 insurrection at the Capitol; instead, the camera just pans over images of the Capitol preparing for the inauguration—now a symbol of Trump’s triumphal power.

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    Joy Press

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  • Store-Bought Is Fine: Unpacking the Style of the MAGA Set at the Premiere of Melania

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    Melania Trump faced a tough time to premiere her self-titled documentary. It was already a tall order, to ask audiences to tune in to a feature film about a subject who seems to have, intentionally, not participated in being a public figure at the level her station would require. Sure, there was a coffee table memoir published in 2024, which became a New York Times bestseller, but ultimately it didn’t reveal much. So why try it again on the big screen?

    The official premiere hosted at the “Center formerly known as Kennedy,” as my colleague Aidan McLaughlin put it in his scene report of the would-be shindig, came after a tense, devastating week in the United States. If early reports from ticket sales online showed theaters with an embarrassingly low amount of sales, then why should anyone care now?

    That might be why when Trump herself took the red carpet—which was in actuality black—last night, she was not dressed for movie stardom. Instead, she wore a sober black skirt suit of the kinds she wears often in her role of first lady—tailored close to the body and cinched at the waist, this time with a thin belt, and with no ostentatious jewelry. Despite the step and repeat, the message was loud and clear: this is not a Hollywood premiere.

    Last night’s ensemble was by Dolce & Gabbana, the Italian label preferred by the first lady. The jacket retails for $2,345 and the skirt for $1,145. She’s also wearing the brand in the poster of the documentary, and donned a $7,300 coat dress by Dior on Wednesday when she rang the New York Stock Exchange bell. In the words of the perennially quotable Ina Garten, “store-bought is fine.”

    Trump’s continued choice of black, along with the black and white styling of the film’s marketing, suggests she is continuing to meticulously build the image she’s created as first lady: Of a stoic, glamorous figure with not much to say but a slick, imposing image.

    Other than Ralph Lauren and Adam Lippes, who each dressed the first lady for her husband’s inaugurations in 2017 and 2025, respectively, American fashion, and fashion at large, has shied away from dressing the First Lady. The general consensus is that it’s not worth the hastle—though Lippes may disagree, as I’ve been told from multiple sources that his business has flourished since last year’s inaugural ensemble (another skirt suit, this time in navy). It’s why you will often find Melania wearing either a custom gown by her stylist, the designer Hervé Pierre, or in something off-the-rack, usually from European labels despite the president’s ethos of reinforcing the American economy and stateside manufacturing.

    Trump reportedly made an effort to be chatty when facing reporters last night, even if she is not one known to be loquacious. Despite initially appearing willing to let his wife take the spotlight, I’m told, the president spent close to half an hour answering reporters’ questions while his wife posed for more photos. A detail you may miss in those about her outfit? “The shoes were Loubs,” my colleague reports—as in the famously red-soled Christian Louboutins.

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    José Criales-Unzueta

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  • Box Office: ‘Melania’ Pacing for $8 Million Opening Weekend

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    After a premiere in Washington D.C. packed with Trump acolytes, Amazon MGM political lightning rod documentary Melania is heading for about $8 million in wide release over its opening weekend.

    While that would be a great start for a political documentary, all bets are off on the comparisons to traditional docs given the context around this Brett Ratner-directed feature. For one, Amazon spent about $40 million to license the film in a deal widely seen as a move to cozy up to the White House. And that’s before what sources have described as about $35 million in marketing costs.

    Among politically charged docs that have opened wide, Michael Moore’s 2004 Fahrenheit 9/11 still holds the record for a $23.9 million bow from 868 theaters on its way to $119.2 million, not adjusted for inflation.

    Melania, meanwhile, could benefit by promotion from the bully pulpit, as President Trump entreats his followers to see the film, while grassroots marketing campaigns from conservative groups are expected to send moviegoers to theaters in red states. It won’t be helped by movie critics, however, as early reviews from major media outlets have been scathing.

    The film is opening opposite 20th Century’s Rachel McAdams thriller Send Help, a Sam Raimi-directed title that may open to $16 million or $18 million domestically. In a twist, indie movie Iron Lung from Mark Fischbach is also tipped to open in that range, so it could be a close race.

    More to come.

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    Erik Hayden

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  • Melania Trump Says Her Documentary Is Not a Documentary

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    The Trumps.
    Photo: Craig Hudson/Variety via Getty Images

    Like an art-school student talking about their first animated short, First Lady of the United States Melania Trump is promising to defy genre conventions. At the premiere of her new nonfiction film Melania at the (Trump-)Kennedy Center, FLOTUS tried to explain that the film, which she executive-produced, was not what it appeared to be. “Some have called this a documentary,” Trump said onstage while presenting the film, per the New York Times. “It is not.” Okay, then what is this thing? “It is a creative experience that offers perspectives, insights, and moments,” Trump said.

    The “creative experience” was directed by Brett Ratner, who was accused of sexual harassment and misconduct by six women in 2017, and goes into wide release this weekend. It is Ratner’s first project since being dropped from his Warner Bros. partnership after the allegations surfaced, and his next will be Rush Hour 4, which President Trump reportedly pushed Paramount to make. Melania is currently aiming to make $3 to $5 million in box-office returns on opening weekend, per Variety. That’s frankly a disastrous amount for Amazon after it spent $75 million on the project. Trump herself is not worried. “I’m very proud of the film, so people may like it, may don’t like it, and that’s their choice,” she told CNN on the red carpet. She added, “We achieved what we want to achieve. For myself, it’s already successful. I’m very proud of what we did.” Just two opening-day screenings in the country, one in Florida and one in Missouri, were entirely sold-out, per Wired. That’s 1/25 a Charli XCX.

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    Jason P. Frank

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  • Melania Trump Announces New Production Company

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    Photo: Anna Moneymaker/Getty Images

    Michelle Obama had a kitchen garden, Nancy Reagan had “Just Say No.” Melania Trump has a vanity shingle. The FLOTUS announced her new production company, Muse Films, on social media Black Friday. She’s just the latest political figure to go Hollywood. Biden signed with CAA after leaving office, and the Obamas had their Netflix overall deal in 2021. But Melania isn’t waiting until her husband’s out of office to get this ball rolling. The company takes its name from Melania Trump’s secret service code name during the first Trump admin. Presumably she has a new one now.

    The first film released by Muse will be the documentary Melania. The film depicts the 20 days before Trump’s second inauguration. Directed by Brett Ratner of all people, Melania comes to theaters and Amazon Prime Video in 2026. Amazon paid $40 million for the privilege of streaming the film on their platform.

    It’s possible Muse will be involved in the newly announced (presidentially-mandated?) Rush Hour 4. Paramount has agreed to distribute RH4 after Donald Trump personally requested a revival of the franchise, per Semafor. Melania is Ratner’s first feature film since 2014’s Hercules. In 2017, he was accused of sexual misconduct by six women, including Olivia Munn and Natasha Henstridge. Variety reports that many distributors didn’t want to touch Rush Hour 4 due to Ratner’s involvement.

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    Bethy Squires

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  • Melania, Brett Ratner’s Documentary About Melania Trump, Takes a Page from Melania and Melania

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    The documentary will also reportedly be supported by a three-part making-of docuseries about the documentary, which according to a representative at Amazon was filmed “during the 20 days before the inauguration, while she travels between New York City, Palm Beach, and Washington, D.C.” What will they call it? Melania and Melania are taken.

    The rights to the documentary, on which Melania is credited as an executive producer, were bought for $40 million by Jeff Bezos in December 2024 before Trump took office, the Wall Street Journal reported. Sources with knowledge of the deal said that Melania will see some 70% of that fee.

    In January, Melania told Fox News that the response to her book was so positive that people wanted to see more about her life.

    “My life is incredible, it’s incredibly busy, and I told my agent, I have this idea so please, you know, go out and make a deal for me,” she said. The film, she said then, will be about her “day-to-day life, what I’m doing, what kind of responsibilities I have. It’s day to day, from transition team to moving to the White House, packing, establishing my team, the First Lady office, moving into the White House, what it takes to make the residence your home, to hire the people that you need.”

    Representatives from the White House and Skyhorse Publishing did not immediately respond to Vanity Fair’s requests for comment.

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    Kase Wickman

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  • Donald Trump has been indicted. Could he still run for president?

    Donald Trump has been indicted. Could he still run for president?

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    Donald Trump was indicted by a Manhattan grand jury Thursday in a case involving hush-money payments to a porn star who said she’d had a sexual encounter with the former president. What will this mean for Trump’s plans to again seek the White House? As Trump presses ahead with his 2024 campaign, here are a few questions and answers about possible criminal charges from the Manhattan district attorney, Democrat Alvin Bragg, and their effects.

    Question: Can an indicted person run for president?

    Answer: Yes. There’s nothing in the Constitution preventing it. Article II, Section 1, of the Constitution doesn’t mention criminal records. The only requirements to run are being a natural-born citizen at least 35 years old and resident in the U.S. for 14 years.

    “ Not only can an indicted person run for president, but a convicted one can, too, legal experts say. ”

    Not only can an indicted person run for president, but a convicted one can, too, legal experts say. “There’s nothing in the Constitution disqualifying individuals convicted of crimes from running for or serving as president,” ABC News legal analyst Kate Shaw told the network.

    Were Trump to be convicted of a felony, however, he likely could not vote for himself — 48 states ban people with felony convictions from voting, according to advocacy group the Sentencing Project.

    From the archives (July 2020): Supreme Court deals setback to Florida felon voting rights

    Also see (May 2021): Florida’s DeSantis signs Republican voting bill that Democrats and critics call un-American; bill signing staged as ‘Fox & Friends’ exclusive

    Q.: What has Trump said about a possible indictment’s effect on his campaign?

    A.: “I wouldn’t even think about leaving,” he told reporters ahead of his speech at this year’s Conservative Political Action Conference. “Probably it will enhance my numbers.” Trump has said he did nothing wrong.

    Trump in mid-March said he could be arrested in the coming days, encouraged his supporters to protest and wrote on social media, “TAKE OUR NATION BACK!”

    Bragg, in response, told his staff that the office won’t be intimidated or deterred as it nears a decision on charging the former president.

    Q.: What have Trump’s rivals for the GOP nomination, or other Republican politicians, said about an indictment?

    A.: In a tweet Thursday, Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis, who is expected to announce his bid for the GOP presidential nomination, called the indictment “un-American” and accused the Manhattan D.A. of having a political agenda. DeSantis added that Florida would not cooperate in an extradition request.

    House Speaker Kevin McCarthy said “the House of Representatives will hold [Manhattan D.A.] Alvin Bragg and his unprecedented abuse of power to account,” while Rep. Jim Jordan, R-Ohio, who has called for a probe into the Manhattan D.A.’s investigation, tweeted a single word Thursday: “Outrageous.”

    Q.: What would a Trump arrest actually look like?

    A.: It’s standard for defendants arrested on felony charges to be handcuffed — but it’s unclear whether an exception would be made for Trump due to his status, the New York Times reported. The former president would likely be released on his own recognizance, the Times said, because an indictment likely would contain only nonviolent felony charges. But he would be fingerprinted and photographed.

    Q.: Is Bragg’s the only investigation Trump is facing?

    A.: No. Besides the Manhattan district attorney’s case, Trump is facing another in Fulton County, Ga., and two federal probes led by special prosecutor Jack Smith. The Georgia probe centers on efforts by Trump and his allies to overturn that state’s 2020 election result. Smith’s investigations concern Trump’s handling of classified material after he left office, and the ex-president’s involvement in the Jan. 6 attack on the U.S. Capitol.

    So Trump could be in for more charges depending on the results of those investigations.

    Q.: Could something else prevent Trump from being president?

    A.: The 14th Amendment bars anyone from public office who, “having previously taken an oath” to support the Constitution, “engaged in insurrection or rebellion” or gave “aid or comfort” to enemies of the U.S. Late last year, a group of 40 House Democrats introduced legislation to bar Trump from holding office, and invoked the 14th Amendment, with Rep. David Cicilline saying the ex-president “very clearly” engaged in an insurrection on Jan. 6, 2021. Trump has denied wrongdoing.

    Now read: Who is Alvin Bragg, the Manhattan DA who may be set to bring charges against Donald Trump?

    Read more: Fulton County grand jury reported hearing a previously unknown Trump phone call with a top Georgia official

    Also see: Here are the Republicans running for president — or seen as potential 2024 candidates

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