The upcoming Melania Trump film has received good news on its box office projections, but the documentary is still a long way from making a profit. A new report reveals that the movie, which dramatically explores the three weeks that Donald Trump’s wife experienced in the leadup to his second inauguration as president, is getting more traction than expected. But it also shares that Amazon Studios has spent far more on the film than the $40 million it cost for the licensing rights. The nearly two-hour film is set to release in theaters nationwide on January 30, though there will be more than a handful of glitzy premieres for the movie set the day before on January 29.
Amazon is actually spending much more than $40 million on Melania doc
The Melania Trump documentary is expected to rake in $5 million in its opening weekend across roughly 1,500 theaters across the United States and Canada, according to the latest forecast from the National Research Group (via Puck).
This is more than double what was originally anticipated for the film based on last week’s figures, which had the documentary only pulling in $1 million to $2 million over the same time period. A part of the uptick is allegedly due to audiences in red states having more interest in seeing the movie within the last few weeks. The report notes that the $5 million is actually “pretty good” for a documentary, particularly during the winter months when studios aren’t typically releasing blockbusters.
However, an insider said that Mike Hopkins, Head of Amazon Prime Video & MGM Studios, has spent over $35 million on P&A (short for Prints & Advertising) for the movie’s worldwide release, which includes theaters in 27 countries. That puts the total cost of the film at $75 million, an amazing number for a documentary (as much as the studio wants to position the film as being more than just a documentary), a genre that has largely been relegated to streaming services in the post-COVID era. At any rate, this new sum makes it far less likely that Amazon Studios will break even on the Melania documentary.
This additional $35 million expenditure might not be a surprise, though, since the initial licensing fee of $40 million has been apparently perceived as more or less a gift from Amazon to the Trump family. The studio is allegedly attempting to show the president and the first lady that it is invested in the success of the film in order to keep Trump happy.
This is why Amazon has pushed its executives to attend the film’s premiere, if just to add to the glitz and glamour of the event. This includes Hopkins, film chief Courtenay Valenti, and other executives who are expected to appear at the premiere in Washington, D.C. at the controversially renamed Trump Kennedy Center.
It was originally unclear when the Melania Trump documentary would be available for streaming on Amazon Prime, which is a large reason why interested viewers would rather wait and watch the movie at home than pay for a ticket to see it at theaters. But the report says that the movie will be available on the subscription service three to four weeks after its theatrical release date (so at some time in late February). However, this streaming release date might change depending on whether Amazon wants to push the film’s box office numbers higher or be able to report high viewership stats by putting it on Amazon Prime early.
As previously reported, Trump’s eldest daughter Ivanka is completely absent from the Melania documentary and has allegedly been snubbed at even attending the movie’s premiere in D.C.
