Melania film earns $7m in US, strongest documentary debut in over a decade

Sun, 01 Feb 2026

Melania, however, cost significantly more than a typical documentary, at $40m to make and $35m to promote

Amazon’s Melania Trump documentary has reportedly beaten box office expectations and recorded the strongest start of any documentary in over a decade, taking $7m at the US box office during its lavishly promoted opening weekend. But it also cost significantly more than a typical documentary, at $40m to make and $35m to promote.

And Amazon – which recently cut 16,000 corporate jobs – has been hit with criticism that making the documentary about the first lady, and paying so highly for it, was little more than a ploy to curry favor with her husband, Donald Trump, during his second presidency.