A documentary about First Lady Melania Trump, with a production budget of $75 million, is having difficulty attracting an audience. Theaters in the United States and the United Kingdom report near-zero ticket sales only days before its nationwide release on Friday, January 30.
The documentary, named “Melania,” tracks the first lady in the 20 days leading up to President Donald Trump’s inauguration. The rights to the film were bought by Amazon MGM Studios for $40 million, and an additional $35 million was invested in marketing. It is expected to open in approximately 1,500 to 2,000 theaters across the United States.
Social media users are highlighting the apparent lack of interest by posting screenshots of unsold seats at movie showtimes. Former naval intelligence officer and community activist, Travis Akers, shared an image of an empty booking screen from a theater in Jacksonville, Florida. His post pointed out that not one ticket had been sold for the opening night at the city’s busiest cinema.
Theatres in New York and Los Angeles also reported a lack of ticket sales, with many showings either empty or sparsely filled. A theater in Lawrenceville, Georgia, where Trump won in the 2024 election, had no tickets sold. Screenshots from theaters in Orange County, California, showed no tickets sold for Saturday night screenings.
Author and documentary filmmaker Greg Mitchell reported that only 20 tickets had been sold for four screenings on the documentary’s opening day at a large nearby multiplex.
Journalist Mike Rothschild, who focuses on QAnon and conspiracy theories, shared similar findings from the Los Angeles area. He compared the low ticket sales to a 2006 film that made just $20 on its opening day, earning it a spot among the lowest-grossing releases in U.S. box office history.
The film Rothschild referenced is “Zyzzyx Road,” a 2006 thriller starring Katherine Heigl and Leo Grillo. The film had a budget of $1.3 million and notoriously earned just $30 during its entire theatrical run at a single theater in Dallas, Texas. This was to fulfill contractual obligations for international distribution, and only six people attended the screenings.
It seems the situation is similar overseas for the Melania Trump documentary. Vue Cinemas in London reported only one ticket sold for a premiere screening at its flagship branch in Islington. More than 100 UK cinemas are scheduled to show the film as part of a global rollout in 27 countries and approximately 5,000 cinemas worldwide.
Vue Cinemas’ chief executive, Tim Richards, told media outlets that ticket sales have been soft. The company has received numerous emails from the public criticizing the decision to screen the film. Industry analysts suggest that some cinemas may have agreed to a “four-walling” arrangement, where distributors pay a flat fee for screening space rather than sharing revenue, predicting limited commercial success.
The National Research Group estimates the film will earn about $5 million during its opening weekend. This would be considered a solid performance for a documentary but falls significantly short of the $75 million spent on production and marketing.
Despite low advance ticket sales, President Trump has been promoting the film on social media, claiming tickets are selling out fast. The disparity between promotional claims and actual sales has led to further mockery on social platforms.
Melania Trump served as executive producer on the documentary and had editorial control over its content, trailer, and advertising campaign. She appeared on Fox & Friends on Tuesday to promote the project.
The documentary was directed by Brett Ratner, who faced multiple sexual misconduct allegations in 2017. Ratner has denied all allegations, and no charges were filed. The film is his first major directing effort since the accusations disrupted his Hollywood career, adding another level of controversy to the project.
According to industry sources, two-thirds of the New York crew asked for their names to be omitted from the film’s credits. Crew members described the production as disorganized and the working conditions as challenging.
The documentary was privately screened at the White House for around 70 guests, including tech and business leaders. A public premiere is scheduled for Thursday at the Kennedy Center in Washington.
Reports of vandalized movie posters have surfaced, with defaced promotional materials found at various theater locations. The poor advance sales and vandalism reflect public indifference or resistance to the project, despite its record budget and marketing campaign for a documentary release.
Amazon MGM Studios’ significant investment in “Melania” is an unusual risk for a documentary with limited proven audience appeal. The studio, owned by billionaire Jeff Bezos, has committed resources typically associated with major Hollywood blockbusters rather than non-fiction films. Even highly successful documentaries rarely generate the returns needed to justify such expenditures.
The strategy to release the film in thousands of screens across nearly 30 countries further increases the financial risk. Current advance sales suggest a historically low per-screen average, indicating low audience interest.
As the Friday release date draws near, the documentary faces becoming a warning tale about the limitations of political branding and promotional spectacle in the entertainment industry. Whether audiences show up for weekend screenings remains to be seen, but early signs suggest that one of the most expensive documentary launches may also become one of the most notable commercial flops in cinema history.
