The Trump administration gathered for a high-profile cultural event on Thursday as the United States was dealing with periods of unrest and heightened global tensions.
The occasion was the premiere of Melania, a documentary centred on US First Lady Melania Trump, backed by Amazon MGM Studios and released amid unprecedented levels of spending and promotion.
The film chronicles the period surrounding Donald Trump’s 2025 inauguration and the family’s return to the White House.
The premiere of Melania took place on Thursday, at the Kennedy Center in Washington as tensions were still elevated in Minneapolis and the possibility of US military action against Iran was being openly discussed.
Attendees included US Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F Kennedy Jr, US Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick and US Defence Secretary Pete Hegseth, among others.
Guests walked across a black carpet — deliberately not red — positioned in front of a large black-and-white display featuring the film’s title. Camera flashes accompanied the arrival of officials, creating a scene more commonly associated with major Hollywood releases than political documentaries.
A US official, speaking anonymously to Reuters, indicated that participation by cabinet members was widely perceived as expected rather than optional.
The optics of senior government figures attending the premiere of a documentary focused on the sitting first lady, while significant national and international issues remained unresolved, immediately fuelled a firestorm.
Kennedy offered a public defence of Melania Trump during the event, saying she has “largely been misunderstood. She’s a deep person. She’s deeply concerned about our country.”
How much Amazon invested in Melania
Central to the controversy surrounding Melania is the size of Amazon MGM Studios’ financial commitment. According to individuals familiar with the agreement, Amazon paid $40 million to license the documentary and an associated docuseries.
The studio also invested approximately $35 million more in marketing and distribution, bringing the total spend linked to the project to about $75 million.
The film is scheduled to debut later this year on Amazon Prime Video, but it first received a wide theatrical rollout.
Melania opened in roughly 1,700 cinemas across the United States and Canada, a scale rarely seen for documentary releases. International distribution plans include availability in around 25 territories outside North America.
Amazon’s promotional campaign has been extensive. Advertisements ran during NFL playoff games, billboards appeared in major cities, and a promotional video was projected onto the exterior of Las Vegas’s Sphere. In London, marketing displays were visible in Piccadilly Circus.
Kristy Guevara-Flanagan, head of documentary film at the University of California Los Angeles, described the campaign as highly unusual for the genre.
“It’s an extremely high budget for promotion of a documentary,” she said. “It really feels like it’s so much in excess it’s like stuffing it down our throats.”
Amazon’s involvement has been examined closely because of its broader relationship with the Trump administration.
Jeff Bezos, Amazon’s chairman, contributed to Donald Trump’s inaugural fund earlier in the year, prompting questions about whether the studio’s decision to acquire and aggressively promote the film was politically motivated.
Amazon and those involved in the production have rejected such claims. A spokesperson for the company said, “We licensed the film for one reason and one reason only – because we think customers are going to love it.”
Director Brett Ratner also dismissed suggestions of political calculation. “It wasn’t about getting rich,” Ratner told reporters at the premiere. “I think the Trumps are wealthy and successful enough.”
When asked whether the Amazon deal was intended to curry favour with the White House, Donald Trump denied any involvement, calling such claims false and saying, “I’m not involved, and it was done with my wife.”
What the documentary shows
Melania offers a rare look into the life of a first lady who has largely avoided public attention during her husband’s second term.
The film focuses on the 20 days surrounding Donald Trump’s return to the White House in January 2025, presenting behind-the-scenes moments that are typically inaccessible to the public.
The trailer opens on Inauguration Day, showing Melania Trump at the US Capitol wearing a navy wide-brimmed hat. The documentary portrays her not only as a ceremonial figure but also as an adviser, including scenes where she weighs in on her husband’s inaugural address.
In one moment, she encourages him to stress the themes of being a “peacemaker and unifier.”
The access provided by the film stands in contrast to Melania Trump’s historically reserved public presence. During Donald Trump’s second term, she has maintained a relatively low profile, making the level of personal exposure in the documentary particularly notable.
How press was denied access to the premiere
Despite its scale and prominence, Melania was not made widely available to critics ahead of its theatrical release.
On the day of the premiere, reporters gathered in the lobby of the Kennedy Center as rumours circulated about who would be allowed into the private screening.
Press check-in began hours before the event, and some veteran journalists hoped they might gain access through informal channels. However, as administration officials arrived on the carpet, it became apparent that most mainstream media outlets would be excluded, reported Variety.
Journalists from organisations including The New York Times, The Washington Post, the Associated Press and Vanity Fair were denied entry to the screening held in the Opera House above the carpet.
The only media figures admitted from the carpet, aside from those separately invited, were One America News anchor Dan Ball and Peyton Drew, a producer for the network.
As a result, critics and reporters seeking to review or cover the documentary were required to purchase tickets themselves. The absence of advance screenings and the limited press access added to concerns about transparency and control over the film’s narrative.
How Melania expects to perform at the box office
Despite the unprecedented spending on acquisition and promotion, industry analysts predict relatively modest box office returns. Forecasters estimate that Melania could earn between $3 million and $5 million during its opening weekend.
Daniel Loria, senior vice president of The Boxoffice Company, raised questions about the film’s commercial prospects. “The question is, for opening weekend, ‘How much does Donald Trump’s appeal to the public extend to Melania?’” he said.
Online discourse surrounding ticket sales has been mixed. Screenshots shared on social media platforms have shown empty or sparsely filled theatres on ticketing websites such as Fandango, though such examples vary by location and cannot be universally verified.
Some advance ticket sales appeared stronger in certain areas, including parts of Manhattan. At AMC Lincoln Square, one of the highest-grossing theatres in the US, a primary evening showing on Friday was reportedly close to selling out.
By contrast, a Friday evening screening at AMC Empire in Times Square had sold only nine tickets as of midweek, with three tickets purchased for the first showing of the day, reported The Guardian.
Producer Beckman pushed back against pessimistic narratives, saying internal figures were encouraging. He described the data he had received as “the real numbers” and said they were tracking “very positively.”
Regardless of theatrical performance, Amazon has indicated that the decision to invest heavily in the documentary was based on anticipated audience interest rather than box office returns alone.
How Melania breaks from precedent
One of the most significant sources of controversy surrounding Melania is the fact that Melania Trump served as a paid executive producer while holding the position of first lady.
Historically, the private lives of first ladies have been treated as part of the public record, typically documented through archives, memoirs or interviews after leaving the White House.
Previous first ladies have monetised their experiences only after their time in office. Michelle Obama and Hillary Clinton both waited until after departing the White House to publish memoirs. Obama’s Becoming went on to become the fastest-selling memoir in history.
Jill Biden took a different approach, continuing her work as an English professor at a community college during her time as first lady. According to tax returns, she earned $85,985 in 2023.
The closest historical comparison is often drawn with Eleanor Roosevelt, who wrote syndicated newspaper columns while serving as first lady. In 1937, she sold the rights to her autobiography to Ladies’ Home Journal for $75,000 — an amount equivalent to just under $2 million today.
Critics at the time “accused her of using her media gigs to financially profit from her role as first lady,” according to the National Endowment for the Humanities, though Roosevelt donated much of her income.
Why South Africa has withdrawn Melania
Melania was withdrawn from cinemas in South Africa, a move confirmed by a local cinema chain to CNN. The decision was attributed to the distributor rather than exhibitors.
Nu Metro, which operates nearly a dozen cinema complexes in the country, said in a statement, “We won’t be releasing Melania (the documentary), as we don’t hold the rights to the film. The rights sit with Filmfinity (the distributor), and it’s at their request that we are not releasing it.”
The withdrawal came amid
strained diplomatic relations between South Africa and the Trump administration.
How the return of Brett Ratner is in itself a controvery
Another focal point of criticism has been the involvement of director Brett Ratner. Known for directing the Rush Hour trilogy and other high-profile films, Ratner has not released a major Hollywood project in nearly a decade.
In 2017, multiple women accused Ratner of sexual misconduct. He denied the allegations and was never criminally charged, but the fallout led to Warner Bros terminating his production deal and several planned projects being cancelled.
His participation in Melania marks his most prominent return to filmmaking since that period.
Melania Trump has publicly said she selected Ratner because she believed he could deliver the “cinematic” vision she wanted. According to reports, the documentary was filmed rapidly using three separate camera crews following the first lady during the transition period.
Crew members cited by Rolling Stone described a disorderly production environment, alleging that Ratner left behind waste on set and brought food into areas where crew members had reportedly been denied meal breaks.
Beyond the box office
While much attention has focused on ticket sales and public reaction, the financial outcome of the theatrical release may be largely irrelevant to Melania Trump herself.
She was reportedly compensated upfront, and the risk associated with the film’s commercial performance rests with Amazon rather than the Trump family.
The documentary’s existence reflects broader changes in how political figures engage with media platforms, particularly in the streaming era.
Amazon’s willingness to commit $75 million to a single documentary stands out in a genre where only a handful of films — mostly music or nature-focused — have ever approached similar figures in North America.
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With inputs from agencies
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