The wait is finally over to see if the first lady’s new documentary — the most expensive in history — would be able to rely on her husband’s supporters to turn up at the box office to watch Melania as she tries to carve out her own career and identity.
They did, with the Amazon MGM Studios doc — directed by Brett Ratner in his first film since he was accused of multiple incidents of sexual misconduct — launching safely in third place with a better-than-expected $7 million from 1,778 theaters, the best showing in a decade for a nonfiction title, excluding concert pics and Disney nature titles. And it beat Jason Statham‘s new pic, Shelter, which opened to $5.5 million.
But it was Disney that dominated the global stage for the 10th consecutive weekend, collecting more than $73 million in combined ticket sales this weekend across its various movies. That included Sam Raimi’s acclaimed horror-thriller Send Help, which won the domestic race with a better-than-expected $20 million and earned another $8.1 million overseas for a global launch of $28.1 million against a net budget of $40 million before marketing. The darkly comic horror-thriller stars Rachel McAdams and Dylan O’Brien as co-workers stranded on a desert island.
And Melania‘s performance wasn’t the only surprise twist of the weekend. Indie pic Iron Lung from Mark Fischbach (aka Markiplier) of YouTube gaming fame nipped at Send Help‘s heels on Friday, but ultimately placed second with nearly $17.9 million and $21 million globally. The film, helmed by Fischbach in his directorial debut, is based on the submarine simulation horror game of the same name that was developed and published by David Szymanski, who helped with the film’s screenplay and makes a cameo.
Still, all the attention was focused on Melania‘s performance. Never before has a sitting first lady been featured on the big screen. In this case, Ratner followed Melania Trump for the 20 days before Trump’s second inauguration.
“We’re very encouraged by the strong start and positive audience response, with early box office for Melania exceeding our expectations. This momentum is an important first step in what we see as a long-tail lifecycle for both the film and the forthcoming docuseries, extending well beyond the theatrical window and into what we believe will be a significant run for both on our service. We are confident in the long-term value this rollout will deliver to customers both in theaters, and for years to come on Prime Video,” said Amazon MGM chief of domestic distribution Kevin Wilson.
Amazon MGM Studios paid $40 million for worldwide rights to release Melania in both in theaters and on its streaming service Prime Video — the price tag also includes additional material for a docuseries on the streaming service — in what’s being billed as the most expensive doc in history in an alleged attempt to curry favor with President Donald Trump. Amazon spent another $35 million on the global marketing campaign, with at least $20 million dedicated to the U.S., where a large chunk of the TV ad spend went to Fox News and pricey ads on NFL games, including the final championship games.
Additionally, organizations supporting the White House hit the ground running to host word-of-mouth screenings and to make sure people were able to get to theaters once it opened, particularly older females. It worked. More than 70 percent of ticket buyers were females. That’s why Amazon MGM bought trailer time before Lionsgate’s The Housemaid, which achieved its own milestone in recent days in crossing the $300 million mark globally. Females are considered an underserved audience, especially older females. To that point, 72 percent of all ticket buyers were over the age of 55.
The doc is galvanizing conservatives in the South and South-central part of the country. Top-grossing theaters were in conservative-leaning states including Texas and Florida — including West Palm Beach, not far from Trump’s Mar-a-Lago resort — Louisiana, Georgia, Arizona, Tennessee, Alabama, Oklahoma, Ohio and Nevada. California and New York were not on the list of top-grossing states, although organizers did host invite-only screenings in Los Angeles, Orange County, the Bay Area and New York City on Jan. 31, where guests were treated to a simulcast of the film’s premiere in Washington, D.C., that was attended by the president and first lady.
Critics are trashing Melania, as reflected by its current 10 percent score on Rotten Tomatoes as of Sunday, Feb. 1 (that’s up from 6 percent on Saturday). Many box office pundits say his supporters expected negative reviews from what they consider to be the left-leaning media. Among audiences, it was the only new nationwide title to earn an A CinemaScore (that’s not unusual when a film is playing to a captive audience), while its audience score on Rotten Tomatoes was 99 percent.
Numerous news outlets in the U.S. suggested Melania would be an all-out bomb before it even opened, with a forecast of $1 million to $3 million being widely circulated.
Exhibitors were also worried and had lowered their estimates to $2 million to $4 million based on sluggish ticket sales. But that changed when Friday grosses began rolling in.
A domestic theatrical campaign for even the biggest docs generally runs no more than $5 million to $7 million. There are exceptions, including former Vice President Al Gore’s An Inconvenient Truth and Michael Moore’s Fahrenheit 9/11. Sources say the domestic marketing spend was close to $15 million on each of those titles because of the awards factor, which can likewise cost $5 million to $7 million, not adjusted for inflation. (Gore’s film did indeed win an Oscar, while Moore’s film was famously shut out.)
Almost two decades later, Fahrenheit 9/11 remains the top-grossing doc of all time among any genre, not just political, and still holds the record for top opening. Fahrenheit debuted to $23.9 million domestically from 868 theaters on its way to a North American cume of $119.2 million and $222 million globally, not adjusted for inflation.
Amazon, which is using FilmNation to help get Melania into cinema overseas, had intended to report foreign grosses. So far, that information isn’t being provided (the first lady was insistent on a theatrical push around the globe). Releasing the doc in more than 20 markets overseas, where Prime has a huge footprint, was a bold move, considering how controversial of a figure her husband can be. He’s presently in a tussle with South Africa, where a distributor pulled Melania from release earlier lasts week. And there’s been a torrent of bad press coming out of Europe regarding empty theaters.
A Prime Video release date has yet to be released.
Elsewhere at the box office, Disney Animation’s Thanksgiving hit Zootopia 2 came in No. 4 in its 10th weekend with an estimated $5.8 million for a domestic tally $408.9 million. It was up 9 percent from last weekend, when hundreds of theaters shuttered because of severe weather in large swaths of the country. Insiders speculate the spike could reflect pent-up demand. The storms also came days after the sequel was nominated for an Oscar for best animated feature.
James Cameron’s Avatar: Fire and Ash, while shut out of the best picture race, was down only 15 percent in its seventh weekend to tie with Shelter for fifth place domestically (both are estimating $5.5 million). Shelter is estimating its foreign opening at $7.5 million for a global start $13 million, while Iron Lung is reporting it opened to $3.7 million offshore for a global launch of $21.5 million, according to Comscore.
Overseas, Avatar 3 stayed atop the international chart with $19.2 million for a worldwide haul of $1.413 billion. Combined, Disney titles amassed more than $73 million this weekend, but, again, one name is drowning everything else out: Melania.
Final grosses for the Jan. 30-Feb. 1 weekend will be released Monday.
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