Amazon is betting big on controversy. The company's $40 million documentary about First Lady Melania Trump pulled in $7.04 million during its opening weekend, more than doubling industry forecasts - but it's still nowhere near profitability. With another $35 million spent on marketing and brutal reviews (7% on Metacritic), the film is raising eyebrows less for its box office performance and more for what critics are calling Amazon's attempt to curry favor with the Trump administration.
Amazon just made one of the most expensive - and controversial - bets in documentary history. 'Melania,' the Brett Ratner-directed film about First Lady Melania Trump, earned $7.04 million during its opening weekend, landing in third place at the box office. It's a performance that exceeded pre-release estimates by more than 40%, but the real story isn't what happened at theaters this weekend. It's what happened in the bidding room months ago.
The streaming giant paid $40 million to acquire the documentary and dumped another $35 million into promotion, according to Variety. That $75 million total puts it firmly in the red, even with the better-than-expected opening. Industry insiders had predicted a modest $3 to $5 million debut, which made Amazon's massive financial commitment all the more puzzling.
But the math gets more interesting when you look at the competition. Amazon's bid came in $26 million ahead of the next highest offer from Disney. That kind of premium doesn't happen for box office potential alone - and critics aren't holding back about what they think is really going on.
'How can it not be equated with currying favor or an outright bribe?' veteran film executive Ted Hope told The New York Times. Hope worked at Amazon from 2015 to 2020 and knows how the company makes deals. He called it 'the most expensive documentary ever made that didn't involve music licensing.'
The film marks director Brett Ratner's return after a seven-year absence from Hollywood. His last project came in 2017, before multiple women accused him of sexual harassment and misconduct. Ratner has denied the accusations, but the controversy followed him onto this production. Rolling Stone reports that two-thirds of the film's New York crew requested their names be removed from the credits.
Amazon took an unusual approach to the film's release, skipping advance screenings for critics entirely. Apple CEO Tim Cook did attend a preview at the White House last weekend, but professional reviewers didn't get their chance until the film hit theaters. The result was predictable and brutal: 7% on Metacritic (indicating 'overwhelming dislike') and 10% on Rotten Tomatoes.
New York Times critic Manohla Dargis described it as 'a very circumscribed and carefully stage-managed chronicle of Mrs. Trump's day-to-day life' during the 20 days before President Trump's 2025 inauguration. That's diplomatic language for a film that appears to trade hard-hitting journalism for access.
At the weekend box office, 'Melania' finished behind Sam Raimi's thriller 'Send Help' ($20 million) and 'Iron Lung' ($17.8 million), a video game adaptation from YouTuber Markiplier that's become a surprise hit. For a documentary to crack the top three is actually notable - the format rarely competes with mainstream entertainment releases.
Kevin Wilson, Amazon MGM's head of domestic theatrical distribution, is already spinning the narrative forward. He called the opening weekend 'an important first step in what we see as a long-tail lifecycle for both the film and the forthcoming docu-series.' He's banking on the film finding a 'significant life' on Prime Video, where Amazon controls the distribution and doesn't have to share box office revenue.
That's the real play here. Amazon doesn't need 'Melania' to be profitable in theaters - it needs the film to drive Prime Video subscriptions and reinforce its relationship with an administration that could shape tech regulation for years. The company's cloud computing arm, Amazon Web Services, does billions in government contracts. Its e-commerce platform faces ongoing antitrust scrutiny. A $75 million investment in a presidential documentary starts to look less like a film deal and more like strategic corporate positioning.
The timing matters too. Amazon is navigating an increasingly complex relationship with Washington as regulators examine its business practices across multiple fronts. A friendly documentary about the First Lady, released during the administration's early months, sends a clear signal about where Amazon wants the relationship to go.
For documentary filmmakers watching this deal, the message is troubling. When a company can outbid competitors by $26 million for a film that critics are calling propaganda, it suggests the content market is being shaped by forces that have nothing to do with storytelling or journalism. It's corporate strategy dressed up as entertainment.
Amazon's 'Melania' play is about much more than box office receipts. Even with the $7 million opening beating expectations, the film is on track to lose money theatrically. But that's not the point. The real value for Amazon comes from its relationship with the Trump administration and the long-term streaming potential on Prime Video. Whether this represents savvy corporate strategy or something more troubling depends on your perspective - but it's clear that when tech giants start producing political documentaries, the lines between entertainment, journalism, and influence peddling get blurry fast. Watch for the docu-series Amazon has planned next, and pay attention to how the company's regulatory challenges evolve over the coming months.
