First lady Melania Trump and Amazon MGM Studios face a high-stakes test this week with the release of the “Melania” documentary: Will the multimillion-dollar investment pay off?
Approximately $35 million has been spent on marketing “Melania,” a film documenting the 20 days around Trump’s return to the White House, according to a source familiar with the matter, with ads featuring images of the first lady on television, on billboards, in subway stations, plastered on buses across the country, and even encompassing the Sphere in Las Vegas.
That’s in addition to the roughly $40 million deal Amazon MGM Studios struck with the first lady, marking a blockbuster budget for the documentary, which releases in theaters Friday.
“After I structured the record-breaking deal for her with Amazon, she got to work,” Trump’s agent and senior adviser, Marc Beckman, said in an interview this week with One America News.
The first lady serves an executive producer on the project — meaning it was made with her full participation and editorial control. And she has been deeply involved in the process.
“She was involved in the production, the postproduction, all of the ad campaign, the trailer. … And when I say involved, I mean she’s not just approving. She built that trailer. She created the cliffhanger, she selected the music. Same thing with the ad campaign that we’re seeing worldwide now in almost 30 countries,” Beckman said.
The significant marketing budget, according to documentary filmmaker Stefano Da Frè, is likely bolstered by metrics and a belief by Amazon that the film will be a box office and streaming success. Da Frè, who was not involved in the project, has directed multiple films streaming on Amazon and other platforms, including “Stolen Dough,” a 2023 documentary about a man whose patent for stuffed crust pizza was stolen by Pizza Hut.
Amazon, he told CNN in an interview, “is a data-driven company. With all their tools, all their AI, Amazon Web Services — they didn’t just come up with that number randomly. They believe, through their metrics, that it’s worth that amount.”
Events around the film’s debut kicked off Saturday night as the first lady and President Donald Trump hosted a private showing in the White House East Room with a small group of friends and family, according to a White House official.
Melania Trump has kept a relatively low profile in her second term, picking and choosing her engagements as she largely splits her time between New York and Florida. However, she has scaled up her public appearances ahead of the documentary’s release and is expected to ring the bell at the New York Stock Exchange on Wednesday morning.
On Thursday, the Trumps will walk the red carpet and attend a screening event at the Kennedy Center, newly renamed the Trump Kennedy Center by its board.
There will be 21 invitation-only concurrent screenings at cities across the country, including New York, Boston, Las Vegas and Los Angeles, according to the source familiar.
The film lands in theaters on Friday. Its streaming date has yet to be announced.
Media observers will be paying close attention to the film’s box office draw and whether the first lady can mobilize her supporters — and the curious — to cinemas, which have been struggling to draw consumers in recent years.
Donald Trump — a former reality star — has not been a popular figure in Hollywood since entering politics in 2015. But Amazon’s decision to license the project indicates the streamer recognizes many Americans’ fascination with the first family.. And Melania Trump, who remains one of the most fascinating and mysterious figures on the planet, will get to share her story with a global streaming audience.
“Everyone wants to know. So here it is,” the first lady says in an off-screen voiceover during the trailer — underscoring an implicit recognition of the public’s curiosity about her.
Amazon’s decision to partner with Trump may also be a political calculation — marking one of tech titans’ many efforts to cozy up to the White House.
Asked for comment, an Amazon MGM Studios spokesperson told CNN, “We licensed the film for one reason and one reason only — because we think customers are going to love it.”
Amazon, according to Beckman, entered a “bidding war” for the project.
“We reached out to all of the big streamers … and effectively, Amazon MGM came out on top. And a lot of that is because we wanted to not just have a financial payout, we wanted to work with a best-in-class partner,” he said.
“Melania” is directed by Brett Ratner and will mark the filmmaker’s first major project since 2017, when he was accused of sexual misconduct by numerous women. Ratner has denied the allegations.
The film’s success will be a major test for Ratner, as well.
“Don’t be surprised if this movie is actually extremely engaging and well made, as Ratner’s last chance to get back in with a highly sought-after Hollywood crowd,” Da Frè told CNN.
