Amazon’s Melania Trump documentary faces empty seats ahead of premiere

President Donald Trump claims that tickets to Melania, a documentary about his wife, are “selling out fast,” but theaters worldwide report weak sales, with only a handful of advance bookings to some screenings, or none at all.

Ticket sales for Melania, a $40-million Amazon documentary about First Lady Melania Trump, have been described as soft across multiple markets. Advance ticket bookings indicate that one of the most expensive documentaries ever made risks flopping.

This is despite Amazon reportedly spending an additional $35 million on marketing and distribution, as well as President Trump promoting the film on social media, including X and his own Truth Social, where he urged fans to get tickets before they sell out.

However, securing a ticket is unlikely to be a challenge for last-minute viewers – if the documentary is even showing in their local area.

Mrs. Trump’s adviser, Marc Beckman, said Melania would open in 2,000 theaters in the US, but the latest reports suggest the number is closer to 1,400, suggesting that Amazon has scaled back the release.

Industry forecasts point to a modest opening weekend, with estimates ranging from about $1 million to $5 million.

Presales are particularly weak in major cities such as New York and Los Angeles, with social media posts showing empty seats at various locations ahead of the documentary’s nationwide opening this Friday, January 30th.

Anyone want a ticket to Melania? You have literally all of them to choose from. h/t Alex Petit.

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undefined Mueller, She Wrote (@muellershewrote.com) January 27, 2026 at 4:18 AM

Interest also appears to be low in places like Florida, which voted for Trump in the 2024 presidential election and is home to his Mar-a-Lago estate, suggesting limited enthusiasm even in what should be the film’s strongest markets.

One user on X received more than 22,000 likes after posting a screenshot from Cinemark’s website showing that no seats had been sold for an evening screening of Melania at a major Jacksonville theater in Florida. The screenshot was posted on Monday and, as of Wednesday morning, all 90 seats were still available.

In the UK, where Melania is being released in around 100 theaters nationwide, ticket sales are reportedly just as dismal. Tim Richards, chief executive of Vue, one of the country’s largest cinema operators, told The Guardian that sales were “soft.”

He said that only one ticket had been sold at a flagship Islington location in London for one of the first screenings at 3:10 p.m. on Friday, with two booked for the 6 p.m. showing. At the time of publishing, three tickets were booked for the former and 15 for the latter.

Australian media reported that Melania is “on track to bomb at the box office,” with the news website 9News saying local audiences “appear completely disinterested.” Not a single ticket had been booked in multiple theaters in major cities of Sydney and Melbourne, it said.

However, it also noted that “most people don’t buy movie tickets several days ahead of time,” and that the “true reception won’t be known until Friday.”

Mrs. Trump will surely be hoping for that. Along with President Trump, she is due to attend the documentary’s official premiere at the Kennedy Center in Washington, DC, on January 29th, a day before its international release in 27 countries.

The private screening held at the White House last weekend has drawn criticism as “tone deaf,” as it took place just a day after federal agents shot and killed 37-year-old ICU nurse Alex Pretti during a protest in Minneapolis.

Apple’s Tim Cook faced backlash over posing for a picture with Melania director Brett Ratner, who was accused by multiple women of sexual assault and harassment in the past.

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The documentary about the first lady is his first major project since allegations made in 2017. Ratner reportedly lived at Mar-a-Lago during the film’s shooting, and the production was described as “chaos,” according to Rolling Stone.

It quoted anonymous sources that told the magazine production staff was uncomfortable with the “propaganda” element of the documentary and that there was “more talk about Brett being slimy than there was about Melania” on set.

Melania follows the first lady during the first days of 2025, leading to her husband’s second inauguration as president. It remains unclear when Melania will be available to stream online, where it may ultimately find its largest audience, with Amazon so far mum on the details.

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