Melania (film): Difference between revisions

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””’Melania””’ is a 2026 American [[pseudo-documentary]] film directed and co-produced by [[Brett Ratner]]. It documents [[Melania Trump]], the [[first lady of the United States]], in the 20 days before her husband [[Donald Trump]]’s [[Second inauguration of Donald Trump|second presidential inauguration]].

””’Melania””’ is a 2026 American [[documentary film directed and co-produced by [[Brett Ratner]]. It documents [[Melania Trump]], the [[first lady of the United States]], in the 20 days before her husband [[Donald Trump]]’s [[Second inauguration of Donald Trump|second presidential inauguration]].

Development started shortly after the [[2024 United States presidential election|2024 presidential election]] and the project received bids from [[Amazon (company)|Amazon]], [[Disney Streaming|Disney]], [[Netflix]], and [[Paramount Pictures]]. Amazon’s offer of $40{{nbsp}}million, the highest price ever paid for a documentary, also included a theatrical release and a follow-up [[Television documentary|docuseries]]. Trump retained editorial control over the film and was heavily involved in the production. This was Ratner’s first film since [[Brett Ratner#Sexual assault allegations|his multiple sexual assault allegations]] in 2017.

Development started shortly after the [[2024 United States presidential election|2024 presidential election]] and the project received bids from [[Amazon (company)|Amazon]], [[Disney Streaming|Disney]], [[Netflix]], and [[Paramount Pictures]]. Amazon’s offer of $40{{nbsp}}million, the highest price ever paid for a documentary, also included a theatrical release and a follow-up [[Television documentary|docuseries]]. Trump retained editorial control over the film and was heavily involved in the production. This was Ratner’s first film since [[Brett Ratner#Sexual assault allegations|his multiple sexual assault allegations]] in 2017.

2026 film by Brett Ratner

Melania is a 2026 American documentary film directed and co-produced by Brett Ratner. It documents Melania Trump, the first lady of the United States, in the 20 days before her husband Donald Trump‘s second presidential inauguration.

Development started shortly after the 2024 presidential election and the project received bids from Amazon, Disney, Netflix, and Paramount Pictures. Amazon’s offer of $40 million, the highest price ever paid for a documentary, also included a theatrical release and a follow-up docuseries. Trump retained editorial control over the film and was heavily involved in the production. This was Ratner’s first film since his multiple sexual assault allegations in 2017.

Melania was released in the United States on January 30, 2026. It received overwhelmingly negative reviews from critics, with most viewers considering it a pro-Trump propaganda film. It was released in over 100 cinemas throughout the United Kingdom, where most showings sold no tickets. In Trump’s native Slovenia, only one screening sold out.

Production

Development

The idea of a documentary about Melania Trump, the wife of Donald Trump, was either pitched by Trump to Jeff Bezos during a dinner at Mar-a-Lago in 2024, or she pitched it to Marc Beckman, her senior adviser and manager, after the 2024 presidential election.[2] She signed on as an executive producer for a documentary about her days after the election.[3] Trump said her impetus was a warm reception to her 2024 memoir.[4] In January 2025, Amazon MGM Studios announced that Brett Ratner would direct a documentary about Trump. Fernando Sulichin was brought on as an executive producer.[5]

Financing

Amazon, Disney, Netflix, and Paramount Pictures bid for the streaming rights.[3][6] Disney offered around $14 million,[7] but lost to Amazon’s bid of $40 million to license the film and produce a follow-up docuseries on her.[6][8] This was the highest price ever paid for a documentary.[3] Ted Hope, who launched Amazon’s film division and led it until 2020, stated that it was probably the most expensive documentary without music licensing.[7] Trump said that she accepted Amazon’s offer due to the inclusion of a theatrical release.[9]

Trump earned $28 million from the film.[10] Hope questioned how the high price for the documentary could not be seen as a bribe.[7] Jimmy Kimmel and other late-night hosts criticized the production as a $75 million bribe. Don Fox, who was acting director of the United States Office of Government Ethics, stated that the documentary seemed like it was meant to curry favor.[11][12]

Filming

Melania is Ratner’s first film since numerous women accused him of sexual misconduct in 2017.[5][8] Ratner was the only person considered for the job.[4] He produced the pro-Trump documentary The Man You Don’t Know in 2024.[13]

Filming began in December 2024,[8] and months of filming was done in Mar-a-Lago.[14] Trump held editorial control over the film and was involved with the trailer, color correction, selection of music, the advertising campaign,[3][15] and designed the logo.[16] Barry Peterson, Jeff Cronenweth, and Dante Spinotti did the cinematography.[2]

Some scenes had up to 80 crew workers involved.[2] Amazon employees were told they could not opt out of working on Melania “for political reasons”.[7] Two-thirds of the New York production crew staff asked to be omitted from the credits.[17] Numerous criticisms were made of Ratner’s conduct during filming.[18]

Soundtrack

An original score was made for the film, including the original song “Melania’s Waltz”. Licensed music from Aretha Franklin, Boney M., The Crystals, Elvis Presley, Giorgio Moroder, James Brown, Jonny Greenwood, Michael Jackson, The Rolling Stones, Sylvie Vartan, Tears for Fears, and the Village People was used in the film.[19]

Marketing

A trailer for Melania was released on December 17, 2025.[4] Ellen von Unwerth shot the poster photograph.[14] On January 28, Trump rang the opening bell at the New York Stock Exchange before making brief remarks promoting the film.[4] Donald Trump advertised the film on Truth Social in anticipation of its release.[17][18]

The marketing budget was reported to be $35 million, far higher than marketing for many other big-budget documentaries, but the production has denied this figure.[14][20] RBG (2018), for example, had a marketing budget of $3 million.[7] From December 22, 2025 to January 23, 2026, Amazon spent $3.5 million on national linear TV ads. Over 461 million household impressions were estimated from network marketing, with the four highest reaching programs on Fox News. Promotions also included an event at the Sphere, in Las Vegas.[21][22]

Release

Melania premiered at the Kennedy Center and other screenings for friends and supporters of Trump were held across 20 cities on January 29, 2026.[14] Amazon MGM Studios released the film on January 30,[23] in 2,000 theatres domestically and 5,000 worldwide.[10] A theatrical release was required as part of Amazon MGM Studios’ purchase of distribution rights.[3] Melania is expected to be available for streaming three to four weeks after its theatrical debut.[7]

FilmNation Entertainment will distribute the film in over 20 countries. Filmfinity planned on releasing the film in South Africa, but cancelled the release on January 28.[24] It will be released in over 100 cinemas in the United Kingdom.[25]

Prior to the premiere of the film, a screening and dinner was held at the White House with 70 guests in attendance, including Queen Rania of Jordan, Tim Cook, Mike Hopkins, Andy Jassy, Lynn Martin, Tony Robbins, Lisa Su, Mike Tyson, and Eric Yuan. A makeshift theater was used as the usual screening room had been demolished by Donald Trump along with the rest of the East Wing the previous year. A military band played “Melania’s Waltz” composed by Tony Neiman as guests were greeted.[14] Representative Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez criticized the White House’s decision to hold the premiere in the context of the recent killing of Alex Pretti and an impending major snowstorm.[18]

Mother Jones reported that the film was review bombed on Letterboxd prior to its release.[10] All of the reviews were removed, which Letterboxd attributed to correcting an incorrect release date pulled from another movie database.[26]

Reception

Box office

Boxoffice Pro estimated that Melania would make $1–2 million in its opening weekend while the National Research Group estimated that it would earn $5 million domestically.

The largest AMC Theatre in Boston reported two days before release that only one ticket was sold over three showtimes,[18] while theaters were nearly sold out in “ultra-conservative hubs” such as Plano, Texas.[21] A review of 1,398 showings on Fandango Media in 329 American theaters by Wired showed that only two screenings were sold out before the premiere.[27]

International

Vue International reported that most showings of the film in the United Kingdom sold no tickets.[25] There was also only one sold-out screening in Trump’s native Slovenia.[9] The film was not screened in South Africa amid strained relations with the United States.[28] Among the 27 showings in eight cinemas in Mexico City, 15 of those were empty and only 12 tickets were sold, with a estimated 2.9 moviegoers per showing.[29]

Critical response

On the review aggregator website Rotten Tomatoes, 6% of 16 critics’ reviews are positive.[30] Metacritic, which uses a weighted average, assigned the film a score of 6 out of 100, based on 13 critics, indicating “overwhelming dislike”.[31]

Julie Cohen, who co-directed RBG and My Name Is Pauli Murray (2021), criticized the film as having “no artistic or journalistic integrity” due to Trump’s editorial control and questioned the high price Amazon paid.[7] Owen Gleiberman called the film a “shameless infomercial” and compared it to 1960s state propaganda in China in his review for Variety.[32]

Xan Brooks, writing for The Guardian, criticized the slow pace and listless nature of the film and considered it a “gilded trash remake” of The Zone of Interest (2023).[33] Nick Hilton, writing for The Independent, compared Melania to The Birth of a Nation (1915) and Triumph of the Will (1935) and criticized the film as vapid and lacking information about Trump.[34] The lack of content and action in the film was criticized by Sophie Gilbert in her review for The Atlantic.[35] Brian Truitt, writing for USA Today, criticized the emotional disconnect; he highlighted Trump’s lack of personality, the fact that she never addresses the camera directly, and scenes in which she is clearly unbothered while watching wildfires in California.[36]

Frank Scheck noted in his review for The Hollywood Reporter that the musical choices for the film included songs about murder, rape, and war (“Gimme Shelter“); false sexual allegations (“Billie Jean“); sex (“Boléro“); power and ambition (“Everybody Wants to Rule the World“); and male domination (“It’s a Man’s Man’s Man’s World“).[37]

References

  1. ^ “Melania (PG)”. British Board of Film Classification. April 2, 2025. Archived from the original on January 27, 2026.
  2. ^ a b c Svetkey, Benjamin (January 30, 2026). “Melania Trump and Brett Ratner Break Silence on Making Their Controversial $75 Million Doc”. The Hollywood Reporter. Archived from the original on January 31, 2026.
  3. ^ a b c d e Agnew, Megan (January 24, 2026). “Sensitive Trump, Melania the boss… inside the first lady’s second term”. The Times. Archived from the original on January 27, 2026.
  4. ^ a b c d Hartmann, Margaret (January 14, 2026). “Melania Trump’s Mysterious Film: Trailer & What We Know”. New York. Archived from the original on January 27, 2026.
  5. ^ a b Weprin, Alex; Couch, Aaron (January 5, 2025). “Brett Ratner to Direct Melania Trump Documentary for Amazon”. The Hollywood Reporter. Archived from the original on December 22, 2025.
  6. ^ a b Belloni, Matthew (January 7, 2025). “Melania Trump Documentary Scores Massive Amazon Payday”. Puck. Archived from the original on January 8, 2025.
  7. ^ a b c d e f g Sperling, Nicole; Barnes, Brooks (January 28, 2026). “Amazon’s Promotion of ‘Melania’ Has Critics Questioning Its Motives”. The New York Times. Archived from the original on January 28, 2026.
  8. ^ a b c Baio, Ariana (January 7, 2025). “Amazon is paying $40 million to license new Melania documentary directed by disgraced Brett Ratner”. The Independent. Archived from the original on January 27, 2026.
  9. ^ a b Shoard, Catherine (January 30, 2026). “One adult for the 9.40am in Sittingbourne: a front row seat for Melania’s ominous UK opening”. The Guardian. Archived from the original on January 30, 2026.
  10. ^ a b c West, James (January 26, 2026). “Letterboxd Users Are Pre-Swarming the “Melania” Doc with Amazingly Mean Reviews”. Mother Jones. Archived from the original on January 27, 2026.
  11. ^ Swain, Marianka (January 29, 2026). “Melania’s documentary may have become a nightmare – but Jeff Bezos still comes out a winner”. The Daily Telegraph. Archived from the original on January 30, 2026.
  12. ^ Melania: Is $75m movie about President Trump’s wife a Box Office flop? (Internet video). Channel 4 News. January 31, 2025. Event occurs at 1:25 min. Retrieved January 31, 2026. [Appearances of Stephen Colbert and Desi Lydic.]
  13. ^ Perman, Stacy (January 26, 2026). “How once-exiled filmmaker Brett Ratner staged a Hollywood comeback with ‘Melania’“. Los Angeles Times. Archived from the original on January 27, 2026.
  14. ^ a b c d e Franklin, McKinley (January 24, 2026). “White House Holding VIP ‘Melania’ Screening Ahead of Doc Premiere With Mike Tyson, Tim Cook, Andy Jassy and More (Exclusive)”. The Hollywood Reporter. Archived from the original on January 27, 2026.
  15. ^ Klein, Betsy (January 25, 2026). “Melania Trump’s multimillion-dollar documentary project faces a key test this week”. CNN. Archived from the original on January 27, 2026.
  16. ^ Klein, Betsy (January 28, 2026). “Melania Trump rings the NYSE opening bell, placing her documentary promotion at the center of the business world”. CNN. Archived from the original on January 29, 2026.
  17. ^ a b Ferguson, Malcolm (January 27, 2026). “Melania Documentary Flops as Crew Reveals Behind-the-Scenes Chaos”. The New Republic. Archived from the original on January 28, 2026.
  18. ^ a b c d Murray, Conor (January 27, 2026). “Trump Says The ‘Melania’ Movie Is ‘Selling Out, Fast’—But Is It?”. Forbes. Archived from the original on January 29, 2026.
  19. ^ Robinson, KiMi; Ryan, Patrick (January 30, 2026). “‘Melania’ movie features Rolling Stones, Michael Jackson, Elvis songs”. USA Today. Archived from the original on January 30, 2026.
  20. ^ Belloni, Matthew (January 23, 2026). “Can ‘Melania’ Open?”. Puck. Archived from the original on January 24, 2026.
  21. ^ a b McClintock, Pamela (January 27, 2026). “Weekend Preview: Rachel McAdams to Be First Lady of the Box Office Despite Melania Trump’s Lavishly Backed Doc”. The Hollywood Reporter. Archived from the original on January 28, 2026.
  22. ^ Fuster, Jeremy (January 28, 2026). “‘Melania’ Set for a $3 Million Opening Despite Amazon’s $35 Million Marketing Push”. TheWrap. Retrieved January 29, 2026.
  23. ^ Galuppo, Mia (December 22, 2025). “‘Melania’ Doc to Premiere at The Kennedy Center”. The Hollywood Reporter. Archived from the original on January 27, 2026.
  24. ^ Eligon, John (January 28, 2026). “Melania Trump Documentary Pulled From South African Theaters”. The New York Times. Archived from the original on January 28, 2026.
  25. ^ a b Shoard, Catherine (January 26, 2026). “Melania documentary struggles in UK cinemas as Vue admits sales are ‘soft’“. The Guardian. Archived from the original on January 27, 2026.
  26. ^ West, James (January 27, 2026). “Those Brutal Melania Documentary Reviews Have Vanished from Letterboxd”. Mother Jones. Retrieved January 29, 2026.
  27. ^ Varner, Maddy (January 29, 2026). “We Found Two Theaters With Sold-Out Melania Opening Day Screenings”. Wired. Archived from the original on January 30, 2026.
  28. ^ Ben Fajzullin, Shristi Pal (January 31, 2026). Amazon’s Melania Trump film opens in cinemas worldwide, with lackluster ticket sales (Internet video). Deutsche Welle. Event occurs at 3:26 min. Retrieved January 31, 2026. [Includes review. Total running time, 4:44 min.]
  29. ^ González, Sara (January 30, 2026). “Salas vacías y pancartas grafiteadas: el desaire del público mexicano al documental de Melania Trump”. El País.
  30. ^ “Melania“. Rotten Tomatoes. Fandango Media. Retrieved January 31, 2026.
  31. ^ “Melania“. Metacritic. Fandom, Inc. Retrieved January 31, 2026.
  32. ^ Gleiberman, Owen (January 30, 2026). “‘Melania’ Review: Brett Ratner’s First Lady Documentary Is a Cheeseball Infomercial of Staggering Inertia”. Variety. Archived from the original on January 30, 2026.
  33. ^ Brooks, Xan (January 30, 2026). “Melania review – Trump film is a gilded trash remake of The Zone of Interest”. The Guardian. Archived from the original on January 30, 2026.
  34. ^ Hilton, Nick (January 30, 2026). “Melania review – First Lady is a preening, scowling void of pure nothingness in this ghastly bit of propaganda”. The Independent. Archived from the original on January 30, 2026.
  35. ^ Gilbert, Sophie (January 30, 2026). “The Melania Trump Documentary Is a Disgrace”. The Atlantic. Archived from the original on January 30, 2026.
  36. ^ Truitt, Brian (January 30, 2026). “Brett Ratner’s ‘Melania’ movie has an emotional disconnect – Review”. USA Today. Archived from the original on January 31, 2026.
  37. ^ Scheck, Frank (January 30, 2026). “‘Melania’ Review: Brett Ratner’s Melania Trump Documentary Is an Unabashed, Fly-on-the-Gilded-Wall Fawn Job”. The Hollywood Reporter. Archived from the original on January 30, 2026.

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