Amazon MGM Studios' "Melania" documentary grossed $7.04 million in its opening weekend, landing third behind "Send Help" ($20M) and "Iron Lung" ($17.8M). The studio beat pre-release estimates of $3-5 million, but the math doesn't work: $75 million total spend ($40M acquisition plus $35M marketing) against brutal reviews and minimal theatrical upside.
The acquisition itself raises questions. Amazon outbid Disney by $26 million for a documentary that Variety called a "cheese ball infomercial" and earned 7% on Metacritic. Ted Hope, who ran Amazon Studios from 2015-2020, told The New York Times this "has to be the most expensive documentary ever made that didn't involve music licensing."
The timing matters. Amazon CEO Andy Jassy attended a White House preview screening the weekend before theatrical release, alongside Apple's Tim Cook. The film premiered at the Kennedy Center with Trump, Cabinet members, and Congress in attendance. Director Brett Ratner's first film since 2017 sexual harassment allegations covered 20 days before Trump's second inauguration.
Amazon is positioning "Melania" as a "long-tail" Prime Video asset, with a docu-series spin-off announced. That's plausible—streaming economics differ from theatrical. But Hope's blunt take resonates: "How can it not be equated with currying favor or an outright bribe?"
For enterprise tech leaders, the pattern is worth noting. Amazon Web Services operates in a heavily regulated environment where government relationships matter. When your CEO attends White House screenings and your studio overpays by $26 million for content involving the sitting administration, questions about quid pro quo aren't cynical—they're due diligence.
The film's 10% Rotten Tomatoes score (versus 99% audience score driven by political supporters) suggests this wasn't about critical acclaim. Whether it was about streaming subscriptions or something else entirely, we'll see. Two-thirds of the crew reportedly didn't know Ratner was directing until production began—an unusual level of secrecy for a documentary.
Notably absent: pre-screening access for press. The reviews came after the Kennedy Center premiere, after Jassy's White House visit, after the deal was done.