Melania Trump’s multimillion-dollar documentary is premiering Thursday night for the second timeand while the red carpet launch at the Kennedy Center might have all the glamorous trappings, the nationwide premiere is projected to be much less impressive.
People across the country have been sharing screenshots of their local theaters’ seat availability, and it looks like showtimes for “Melania” are, despite President Donald Trump’s claimsnot “Selling out, FAST!”
The seas of unsold seats stand at a stark contrast to the $35 million marketing budget that Amazon MGM Studios dropped on the film, on top of the $40 million licensing fee it paid to score the rights to the vanity project.
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Melania has been putting in her own legwork, too. The notoriously absent first lady has come out of hiding to make rare Fox News appearances and even ring the opening bell at the New York Stock Exchange to drum up press for the movie release.
Despite all that cash and glad-handing, things aren’t looking too hot.
No amount of commercials and billboards seems to be helping boost box office sales for what Jimmy Kimmel called a “$75 million bribe” from Amazon to Melania. And the company is making it rain on the Trumps even though it laid off a collective 30,000 employees since October.
Based on advance ticket purchases, the film is projected to hit below the $5 million mark at the box office in its opening weekend.
The optics don’t look great. Overseas, South Africa mysteriously pulled the film from theaters, citing unspecified “recent developments.” In London, the Vue cinema chain reported just one ticket sold on opening night at its flagship theater, according to The Guardian.
Rolling Stone reported that crew members on the documentary requested not be be included in the credits and said they hated working with director Brett Ratner, who was blackballed by Hollywood studios after numerous sexual assault accusations.
But “Melania” also has to reckon with the bad PR that is her husband’s handling of an ongoing immigration crackdown in Minnesota. While most Trump supporters rallied behind him when an ICE officer shot and killed Minneapolis mother Renee Good is Jan. 7, public opinion shifted in a big way when ICU nurse Alex Pretti was killed by a Border Patrol agent on Saturday, leading to nationwide protests.
Regardless of how the film performs at the box office, this is just the beginning of the first lady’s film career. The former model launched her own production companyMuse Films, in November.
While no one knows what Melania has in store for her production company, you can be sure that she will use this opportunity to be best.