The debut of “Melania” blew past expectations, opening to the strongest ticket sales for a documentary in a decade and reaping rave reviews from moviegoers despite scathing takes from critics.
The film, starring and co-produced by first lady Melania Trump, was projected to gross $7.04 million over the weekend after earning $2.9 million in domestic sales Friday, surpassing prerelease estimates of $3 million to $5 million and defying naysayers who predicted the movie would bomb.
The Amazon MGM Studios documentary, directed by Brett Ratner, also earned a perfect A ranking from CinemaScore, which polls theatergoers, and a staggering 99% audience rating from Rotten Tomatoes.
“Bad news for the obsessional culturati who have been working to establish the Melania movie as a world-historic failure and embarrassment: It’s going to make $8M in its first weekend, which is a colossal opening for a documentary,” Commentary editor and film critic John Podhoretz posted Saturday on X.
Former studio executive David A. Gross, publisher of the FranchiseRe movie newsletter on Substack, described the box office returns as “an excellent opening for a political documentary, at more than double the average for the genre.”
The enthusiastic reception from moviegoers contrasted starkly with the 11% rating from critics, who ripped the film as “vapid,” “mostly dull,” “endless hell” and a “cheeseball infomercial of staggering inertia.”
“It’s a ‘portrait’ of the First Lady of the United States, but it’s so orchestrated and airbrushed and stage-managed that it barely rises to the level of a shameless infomercial,” Owen Gleiberman said in his review for Variety.
The $40 million documentary, which follows Mrs. Trump in the 20 days leading up to the 2025 presidential inauguration, benefited from a $35 million marketing budget and the president’s ringing endorsement, but it also had to overcome anti-Trump crowds’ active rooting for the movie to fail.
Trump opponents plastered social media with screenshots showing theaters with no seats reserved for the film, yet “Melania” outperformed on walk-up traffic, registering 52% same-day sales, according to PostTrak figures reported by Deadline Hollywood.
Some of our “church ladies” at the new movie MELANIA that includes my prayer for the President and First Lady! @FLOTUS @POTUS pic.twitter.com/OzDupYdjm5
— Dr. Robert Jeffress (@robertjeffress) January 31, 2026
Driving the film’s success were older conservative women: 72% of the audience were women, and 72% were older than 55. In terms of politics, 49% identified as Republican, 47% were politically conservative, 28% were evangelical Christians, and just 2% were Democrats.
“The turnout here for the Brett Ratner-directed nonfiction film is akin to that of a faith-based movie,” Deadline said in its analysis.
Indeed, the film drew comparisons before its release to Angel Studios’ 2023 documentary “After Death,” which grossed $5 million in its opening weekend and went on to earn $11.8 million worldwide.
An $8 million opening weekend would make “Melania” the highest-grossing documentary in more than a decade, excluding concert films.
A $7 million opening weekend would make “Melania” the highest-grossing documentary excluding concert films since 2012, according to figures from Box Office Mojo.
“We’re very encouraged by the strong start and positive audience response, with early box office for ‘Melania’ exceeding our expectations,” Kevin Wilson, head of domestic theatrical distribution at Amazon MGM Studios, said in a statement to news outlets. “This momentum is an important first step in what we see as a long-tail lifecycle for both the film and the forthcoming docu-series, extending well beyond the theatrical window and into what we believe will be a significant run for both on our service.”
Even before its theatrical release, “Melania” made history as the first documentary starring a sitting first lady and as one of the most expensive documentaries ever made.
The flick’s performance was good enough for third at the weekend box office, behind the science-fiction horror movie “Iron Lung” and “Send Help,” a survival/revenge film starring Rachel McAdams.
Mrs. Trump celebrated her movie’s success on X by posting: “#1 Highest Opening In 10 Yrs (Doc)/Loved By All — ‘A’ CinemaScore.”
“Melania” had its red-carpet premiere Thursday at the Trump Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts, a few days after a private screening at the White House.
On Friday, President Trump urged his supporters on Truth Social to see the movie.
“Last night I saw, ‘MELANIA,’ for the second time. The audience loved it, and so do I,” he posted. “Check it out — A MUST SEE!”
• Valerie Richardson can be reached at vrichardson@washingtontimes.com.
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