Melania Trump has made a desperate last-ditch attempt to juice the viewership figures for her self-obsessed $75 million documentary.
The first lady, whose me-me-me production was bankrolled by Amazon and directed by disgraced filmmaker Brett Ratner, has clearly been rattled by the fact that it made less than 10 percent of its total budget in its opening weekend.
And desperate times call for desperate measures. “Don’t miss your chance to see MELANIA in theaters before its run ends,” the star herself pleaded on X, on Presidents Day no less.
“Experience the immersive visuals and sound on the big screen today,” she wrote.
The film follows President Donald Trump’s wife during the 20 days leading up to his inauguration last January.
Her plea came with a lukewarm review by The New York Times noting that “’Melania’ arrives with strong box office showing for a documentary.” A slightly more glowing review by The Wall Street Journal was also quoted describing the movie as “a hit.”
“FANS <3 MELANIA,” the graphic in her post said.
While the film has been heralded by MAGA figures as a massive success, in a best-case scenario, Amazon MGM is walking away with just $10 million, according to Variety. For traditional studios, that’s hardly enough to justify the film’s price tag: Amazon paid a staggering $40 million to acquire “Melania” and a follow-up streaming docuseries. Then the company shelled out $35 million on the theatrical marketing spend, an unprecedented sum considering documentaries aren’t traditionally a driver of big box office dollars.
Melania’s Presidents Day appeal came as a new poll by YouGov found that, out of the 11 most recent first ladies, she is the second-least favorite after Hillary Clinton.
In the poll conducted Feb. 2-5, respondents were asked how they would rate each of them, with 46 percent rating Melania Trump as “poor” or “below average.” Some 36 percent, more than any other first lady, rated her as “poor.”
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