Melania, the Amazon MGM Studios documentary about first lady Melania Trump, saw a significant drop in its second weekend at the U.S. box office. It fell 67% from its opening weekend, despite being shown in more theaters, according to Entertainment Weekly and box office estimates.
The film made around $2.4 million from 2,003 theaters in North America during its second weekend, down from roughly $7 million in its opening. Entertainment Weekly also noted that the movie added about 300 theaters in its second weekend but still experienced a decline in ticket sales.
With the new weekend total, the film’s domestic earnings reach about $13.4 million, leaving it far from recouping its reported costs for acquisition and marketing combined. Amazon MGM reportedly paid $40 million for the rights to the documentary and spent around $35 million on marketing, according to the AP and other sources.
Amazon MGM defended the release as part of a broader strategy beyond theaters. Kevin Wilson, the distribution chief, said that the theatrical run is part of a plan to create awareness before the film debuts on Prime Video and other related projects. Amazon has not yet announced a streaming date.
The steep decline in the second weekend occurred during Super Bowl weekend, which often diverts audience attention from theaters, and faced competition from new releases for screen space. Entertainment Weekly mentioned that Amazon MGM still considers the documentary’s overall box office performance notable for the category, even if the drop mirrors the trend of wide releases that open strong and quickly lose momentum.
This box office decline adds to the unusual gap between audience demand and critical reception surrounding the movie since its release. The Guardian reported that the film entered its second weekend with a notable difference between critics’ ratings and verified audience scores on Rotten Tomatoes. The owner of Rotten Tomatoes stated that the site did not find any manipulation in the verified ratings system linked to ticket purchases.
Directed by Brett Ratner, the film examines Melania Trump leading up to President Donald Trump’s inauguration in January 2025, according to Entertainment Weekly and the AP. Amazon MGM has stressed the documentary’s potential as a platform release, which they plan to monetize through streaming and broader engagement on Prime, even as the theatrical numbers attract significant attention due to the reported spending on the project.
The director of the “Melania” documentary is Brett Ratner. In 2017, as part of the #MeToo movement, six women, including actresses Natasha Henstridge and Olivia Munn, publicly accused him of sexual harassment and misconduct. Makes perfect sense. pic.twitter.com/M0AmGQlUaz
— TheRealThelmaJohnson (@TheRealThelmaJ1) December 29, 2025
The downturn in the second weekend increases focus on what the film can earn in the upcoming weeks, especially if theaters begin to reduce showtimes. The AP indicated that this drop puts the film on a path that will make it hard to break even from ticket sales alone, given the reported costs for acquisition and promotion.
For Amazon MGM, the next crucial measure will be whether the movie can maintain any substantial theatrical revenue as it moves through February and if the attention during its run translates into viewership when it is available on Prime Video, as executives have suggested, according to Entertainment Weekly.
