Did ‘Melania’ Cook the Box Office Books?

After months of hype and $75 million in production and marketing costs, Amazon unleashed the first lady’s documentary to big-ish grosses. It’s still a sure money loser in theaters for Bezos & Co.—and some suspect an orchestrated box office boost.

So for the record, Amazon says it didn’t artificially boost the box office, and both AMC and Regal tell me they did not experience unusual block purchases of tickets for ‘Melania’ outside the usual churches and old folks groups that often over-index for faith-based or overtly political movies. Photo: Regine Mahaux/Courtesy of Amazon MGM Studios

Matthew Belloni

February 3, 2026

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Many, many readers seem incapable of believing that a 104-minute Melania Trump infomercial, heavily promoted via a highly unorthodox $35 million marketing campaign (including ads during NFL playoff games!) and several endorsements from the president, could gross $7 million in 1,778 theaters over the weekend. At nearly $4,000 per screen, it’s the biggest debut for a non-music doc in more than a decade, which is understandably triggering for some, especially those who were gleefully posting screenshots of empty big-city theaters and desecrated billboards on social media all weekend.