{"id":737474,"date":"2026-02-08T06:34:13","date_gmt":"2026-02-08T06:34:13","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/737474\/"},"modified":"2026-02-08T06:34:13","modified_gmt":"2026-02-08T06:34:13","slug":"amazon-mgm-goes-on-offense-as-melania-risks-getting-sacked-at-super-bowl-box-office","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/737474\/","title":{"rendered":"Amazon MGM Goes on Offense as \u2018Melania\u2019 Risks Getting Sacked at Super Bowl Box Office"},"content":{"rendered":"

Melania<\/a> is having trouble staying on the field at the Super Bowl weekend box office, where it is bracing itself for a steep decline and a possible tenth-place finish with $2.4 million, according to Friday returns. Others think it could finish slightly higher to come in ninth.<\/p>\n

Amazon MGM Studios put out a statement Saturday stressing that the first lady\u2019s documentary, directed by Brett Ratner<\/a>, is already a win in for cinemas after opening to a better-than-expected $7.2 milion <\/a>a week ago, the biggest launch in a decade for a doc (that excludes concert pics and nature films from Disney).<\/p>\n

More from The Hollywood Reporter<\/p>\n

\u201cMelania\u2019s strong theatrical performance is a critical first moment that validates our wholistic distribution strategy, building awareness, engagement and provides momentum ahead of the film\u2019s eventual debut on Prime Video,\u201d Amazon MGM distribution chief Kevin Wilson said in Saturday\u2019s note.<\/p>\n

Melania Trump\u2019s film<\/a> \u2014 a behind-the-scenes chronicle of the 20 days before her husband\u2019s second inauguration in 2025 \u2014 has sparked a barrage of headlines after being billed the most expensive doc ever made<\/a>. In truth, no one knows the actual budget, since Amazon only paid for the license. Melania Trump reportedly pocketed $28 million, while Ratner certainly took a fee. Marc Beckman, the first lady\u2019s longtime manager and producing partner, is another pivotal figure in the marking of Melania.<\/p>\n

In a deal spanning the globe, Amazon MGM beat out other studios in plunking down $40 million in January 2025 for both theatrical and streaming rights to Melania and material for a docu-series. Team Melania was insistent on a proper, exclusive theatrical component, according to sources. Other bidders were only interested in the streaming rights, including Disney, which offered $14 million to $15 million. Amazon MGM spent another $35 million on the global marketing campaign. While the domestic portion was certainly more, the overseas push could have easily been $10 million to $15 million. So far, no international grosses have been reported by the studio, a sign that it isn\u2019t doing much business in the 20-plus countries where it\u2019s playing.<\/p>\n

As far as North America, the filmmakers and Amazon MGM were so enthusiastic after last weekend\u2019s opening that they added 200 theaters heading into Super Bowl weekend. Through Friday, the film\u2019s domestic total stood at $11.8 million after placing ninth for the day with $865,000.<\/p>\n

Melania\u2018s streaming date has yet to be announced, but insiders insist it will not go to Prime as early as next weekend. But it\u2019s likely to be relatively quickly, since it would benefit Amazon to get two marketing campaigns for the cost of one. Also, a movie can still do business in theaters when it debuts in the home \u2014 provided a theater operator doesn\u2019t need Melania\u2018s screens for another title with more potential.<\/p>\n

\u201cTogether, theatrical and streaming represent two distinct value creating moments that amplify the film\u2019s overall impact. Audience response is already validating this approach, with exit data showing strong intent to rewatch on Prime Video and meaningful interest in the forthcoming docuseries,\u201d Wilson said. \u201cThat interest is further amplified by the theatrical marketing halo we consistently see drive increased awareness and viewership once films launch on Prime Video, reinforcing long-term value across the movie\u2019s entire lifecycle.\u201d<\/p>\n

Critics<\/a> have ravaged Melania, which currently has an eight percent score on Rotten Tomatoes among reviewers (it was at six percent for much of last week). The audience score has consistently stood at 99 percent, prompting a raft of stories suggesting that bots were responsible for what\u2019s possibly the biggest gap in the history of Rotten Tomatoes.<\/p>\n

Things got so noisy that the website had to weigh in<\/a>: \u201cThere has been NO manipulation on the audience reviews for the\u00a0Melania\u00a0documentary. Reviews displayed on the Popcornmeter are VERIFIED reviews, meaning it has been verified that users have bought a ticket to the film through Fandango.\u201d<\/p>\n

Box office pundits add that fan-event movies often have higher-than-usual audience scores.<\/p>\n

Super Bowl weekend is generally one of the slowest in terms of the year because of Sunday\u2019s big game. The major studios generally avoid opening a movie, explaining why an eclectic mix of indie movies are invading the multiplex this weekend, including a glut of horror titles and a new K-pop concert pic, Stray Kids: The dominATE Experience, from Bleecker Street and Crosswalk.<\/p>\n

The dominATE Experience topped Friday\u2019s chart with $3 million, but Disney and 20th Century\u2019s acclaimed <\/a>Send Help is expected to enjoy a repeat win (it grossed another $2.8 million Friday) with $8 million to $10 million. Otherwise, many of the other titles in the top 10 were in such a close race that there was no clarity as to what the final weekend order will be.<\/p>\n

A full box office report will follow Sunday.<\/p>\n

Best of The Hollywood Reporter<\/p>\n

Sign up for THR’s Newsletter<\/a>. For the latest news, follow us on Facebook<\/a>, Twitter<\/a>, and Instagram<\/a>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Melania is having trouble staying on the field at the Super Bowl weekend box office, where it is…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":737475,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":"","_share_on_mastodon":"0"},"categories":[2026],"tags":[1589,106366,106362,7,106361,106365,92652,15739,106367,106364,106363],"class_list":{"0":"post-737474","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-football","8":"tag-amazon","9":"tag-amazon-mgm","10":"tag-brett-ratner","11":"tag-football","12":"tag-melania-trump","13":"tag-mgm-distribution","14":"tag-mgm-studios","15":"tag-prime-video","16":"tag-team-melania","17":"tag-theatrical-performance","18":"tag-weekend-box-office"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/channels.im\/@nfl\/116033622110125016","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/737474","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=737474"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/737474\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/737475"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=737474"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=737474"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=737474"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}