The Melania Trump documentary made a notable debut at the box office, drawing strong interest in its opening weekend. The film debuted at No. 3 on the domestic charts and earned $7.1 million in ticket sales across the U.S. and Canada.
That performance marks the biggest opening weekend for a documentary since 2013. It also outpaced the opening grosses of recent titles in the genre, including Am I Racist? ($4.5 million), Monkey Kingdom ($4.6 million), Born in China ($4.8 million), and After Death ($5.1 million).
Overseas, the documentary had a muted start, bringing in about $25,000 during its opening weekend. The film has so far rolled out in only a handful of international markets, including Australia and New Zealand. With the strong domestic performance added to its limited international earnings, the documentary’s worldwide opening weekend total stood at $7.18 million.
While that marks an encouraging launch for a documentary, the numbers may still fall short if the film is aiming to break even solely through its theatrical run.
READ: Reshma Saujani’s Moms First releasing documentary on American motherhood (
Veteran box office analyst Tom Brueggemann has raised questions about whether the film’s opening numbers were driven by genuine audience demand. He noted unusual ticketing patterns in the days leading up to the release, including a sharp rise in midweek sales just ahead of opening weekend.
Brueggemann said industry sources suggested that large blocks of tickets may have been purchased in advance and then handed out to specific groups, including senior living communities, political activists and other targeted audiences, as a way to boost attendance figures.
Major theater chains AMC and Regal have said they did not see any unusual bulk ticket purchases tied to the release. Still, industry watchers point out that such activity can be hard to spot when tickets are routed through third party buyers or promotional partners.
Brueggemann has also acknowledged that hard documentation supporting these claims is limited. Even so, he said the timing and shape of the sales activity stood out and raised concerns among box office tracking professionals.
Studio representatives have also emphasized that Melania delivered the largest opening weekend for a non musical documentary in the past decade. Analysts, however, caution that the film’s hefty production and marketing costs mean that turning a profit is still a long way off.
Reports suggest Melania carried an overall budget of about $75 million, including marketing. With Amazon and MGM Studios behind the project and its primary audience expected to be online, theatrical box office performance is less critical to its long term prospects.
If the film were to rely on theaters alone to break even, it would need to gross roughly $187.5 million worldwide, based on the industry’s standard 2.5x multiplier. That is an enormous benchmark for a documentary, though the real test for Melania will be how it ultimately performs on Prime Video.
READ: Sandesh Sharda’s ‘Paro: The Untold Story of Bride Slavery’ advances in the Oscar race (
The documentary tracks Melania Trump over the final 20 days leading up to the 2025 Presidential Inauguration, offering a rare look into her private world as she balances intense planning, personal conversations and the realities of returning to the White House. The film was released on January 30.
Directed by Brett Ratner, marking his first feature since his career setback, the documentary opened in third place at the domestic box office.
Melania has said the documentary has been “loved by all,” pointing to its A CinemaScore rating based on exit surveys of opening weekend audiences.
The film also holds a striking 99% audience score on Rotten Tomatoes, though that enthusiasm is not shared by critics. Its critics score currently stands at just 10%, underscoring a sharp divide in reception.
Variety’s Owen Gleiberman described the documentary as “so orchestrated and airbrushed and stage-managed that it barely rises to the level of a shameless infomercial,” while Empire reviewer William Thomas labeled it “an obsequious, ring-kissing portrait of the current US administration, dressed in gauche, glossy reality-TV clothing.”