‘Melania’ documentary surprises Hollywood press with robust field workplace opening

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"Melania," the documentary detailing the 20 days within the first lady ’s life earlier than President Donald Trump's second time period in workplace, shocked the Hollywood press with its shock opening weekend.

Experiences indicated that "Melania" posted the best opening weekend for a documentary in over a decade, in stark distinction to its low critic rating.

"Nobody noticed that coming, with many suggesting 'Melania' was a bomb earlier than it even opened primarily based on empty, or almost empty, seat maps in cinemas throughout the nation," The Hollywood Reporter reported Saturday.

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The "Melania" documentary earned the very best field workplace opening for a documentary in over a decade. (Melania Trump)

It continued, "[E]xhibitors weren’t so satisfied, primarily based on sluggish ticket gross sales and an countless stream of social posts displaying auditoriums the place solely a smattering of tickets had been bought (it’s arduous to recollect a non-concert doc that’s been so scrutinized when it comes to its opening quantity)."

Different leisure shops additionally expressed shock on the field workplace efficiency of the "Melania" documentary.

"'Melania: Twenty Days to Historical past' is proving the haters and losers incorrect. The Brett Ratner-directed documentary chronicling three weeks within the lifetime of the incoming first woman has over-performed expectations," Rolling Stone magazine reported on Sunday.

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Hollywood press shops had been largely shocked on the field workplace numbers for "Melania." (Amazon MGM Studios)

Selection reported that the movie was "eclipsing field workplace expectations," whereas Deadline claimed "Melania" had "crushed it precisely the place she was suppose to" in pink areas regardless of issues a few "nice deal of juicing" on the field workplace.

The New York Times referred to as the numbers a "face-saving consequence for the primary woman" after preliminary predictions positioned the movie at solely $5 million, although it contextualized the sizeable opening.

"On Saturday, analysts projected roughly $8 million in home ticket gross sales for the almost two-hour movie. The precise quantity, $7 million, means that opening day was entrance loaded with Mrs. Trump’s followers," the New York Occasions wrote.

Fox News Digital reached out to Amazon MGM Studios for a remark.

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Experiences additionally discovered that Amazon MGM Studios spent $40 million on the documentary with one other $35 million spent on advertising and marketing. Nonetheless, the studio reportedly intends to recoup these prices by licensing offers in addition to upcoming plans so as to add the movie to its Prime Video streaming service.

Amazon was reportedly happy with the opening weekend numbers for the "Melania" documentary regardless of its excessive prices. (Leon Neal/Getty Pictures)

"We’re very inspired by the robust begin and optimistic viewers response, with early field workplace for ‘Melania’ exceeding our expectations," Amazon MGM’s head of home theatrical distribution, Kevin Wilson stated in a statement to Variety . "This momentum is a vital first step in what we see as a long-tail lifecycle for each the movie and the forthcoming docu-series, extending properly past the theatrical window and into what we consider will likely be a big run for each on our service. We're assured within the long-term worth this rollout will ship to prospects each in theaters, and for years to come back on Prime Video."

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The "Melania" documentary was additionally extensively panned by leisure critics as a type of "propaganda" for the Trump administration. Against this, verified viewers customers on the Rotten Tomatoes web site largely praised the film , giving it a 99% approval score.

Lindsay Kornick is an affiliate editor for Fox Information Digital. Story ideas will be despatched to lindsay.kornick@fox.com and on Twitter: @lmkornick.