Amazon’s ‘Melania’ documentary struggles at the box office

Following a better-than-expected opening weekend in theaters, box office sales—the revenue generated by ticket sales in movie theaters—for Amazon’s documentary film Melania fell 67% in its second weekend of theatrical distribution in the United States. The film generated an estimated $2.37 million in ticket sales over the weekend, bringing its total gross to $13.5 million. Almost all of that total gross has been generated within the United States. This performance makes it extremely unlikely that the film will break even in theaters, given the scale of Amazon’s upfront spending. The financial breakdown of this investment includes:

• An acquisition cost of $40 million
• A marketing cost of $35 million

Before the film’s theatrical release, a former Amazon film executive questioned the motivation behind the transaction, asking how the $40 million acquisition price could be motivated by anything other than currying favor or “an outright bribe.”

The sharp drop in ticket sales stands out even when accounting for broader market trends in the United States. While moviegoing typically slows down during the Super Bowl weekend, Melania fell much faster than other films currently showing in theaters. For comparison, the competing film Send Help only saw its box office sales decline by 47% over the same weekend. After placing third on the box office charts in its opening weekend, Melania dropped to ninth place in its second weekend.

Perhaps anticipating discussion about the film’s decline, Amazon released a statement defending its theatrical strategy—the process of releasing films in cinemas. Kevin Wilson, the head of domestic theatrical distribution at Amazon, stated that theatrical and streaming releases represent two distinct moments for creating value that amplify a film’s overall impact. Additionally, the film has faced a stark divide between critics and viewers. While reviews from critics were universally negative, the film maintained a 99% audience rating on the review aggregation website Rotten Tomatoes. The rating was high enough that Rotten Tomatoes issued a statement insisting the score was real.

Why it matters

The documentary is underperforming in the United States, leaving Amazon unlikely to recoup its $75 million total investment in acquisition and marketing costs.