Melania drops 67% at US box office as Rotten Tomatoes defends record-breaking audience scores

"Melania, Brett Ratner's authorised documentary following the first lady in the 20 days preceding Donald Trump's January 2025 inauguration, has dipped 67% in its second week of release in the US. The film outpaced expectations over its first weekend, taking in $7.2m domestically and leading Amazon to expand their rollout from around 1,500 venues to just over 2,000. But indications are that appetite had already been sated, with Sunday projections standing at $2.3m,"

"Melania's strong theatrical performance is a critical first moment that validates our holistic distribution strategy, building awareness, engagement and provides momentum ahead of the film's eventual debut on Prime Video, said Amazon MGM distribution chief Kevin Wilson. A streaming release date has not yet been announced. The film, for which Amazon paid $40m after a bidding war, and then spent a further $35m on marketing, was released in 26 countries worldwide (a South African release was abruptly cancelled at the 11th hour)."

"Critics have almost universally slated the movie, with the Guardian's Xan Brooks calling it a gilded trash remake of The Zone of Interest and two hours of pure, endless hell. But audiences appear to have felt otherwise, leading to a record-breaking gap between the aggregate critics' score and audience members' equivalent on reviews curation site Rotten Tomatoes. On that site its official reviews rating is just 8%,"

Melania, Brett Ratner's authorised documentary follows the first lady during the 20 days preceding Donald Trump's January 2025 inauguration. The film earned $7.2m domestically in its opening weekend, prompting Amazon to increase the rollout from about 1,500 to just over 2,000 screens. Domestic receipts fell 67% in week two, with Sunday projections near $2.3m and a fall from No. 3 to No. 10 on US box office charts. Amazon emphasizes theatrical momentum ahead of an undisclosed Prime Video release. Amazon paid $40m for the film and spent $35m on marketing. International performance was weaker, with top territories including the UK, Australia and Slovenia. Critics largely panned the film while Rotten Tomatoes showed an 8% critics' rating versus a 99% audience score, creating a record-breaking critics–audience gap.

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