‘Melania’ Sets Box Office Records as Hollywood Access Media Tries to Tear it Down

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The documentary Melania, which focuses on the 20 days before President Trump’s second inauguration, has proven to be very popular with audiences. Despite receiving overwhelmingly negative reviews from critics – it currently has a 10% score on Rotten Tomatoes – viewers have given it a remarkably high 99% rating, indicating they didn’t share the critics’ negative opinions.

The movie debuted at number three in U.S. theaters during what Deadline described as a surprisingly slow weekend for moviegoing. Deadline also noted that its $8 million opening weekend was the strongest start for a documentary in ten years. Even though documentaries are now popular on streaming services, Melania managed to attract people back to cinemas. The film, from Amazon MGM Studios, will be available to rent or buy at home soon, but that didn’t stop audiences from seeing it in theaters.

The film’s popularity could be another sign that traditional Hollywood doesn’t always connect with what everyday Americans want to see.

What the Critics Said

Leading up to the movie’s release, Rex Huppke, a columnist for USA Today, claimed it was a patriotic act to make fun of the documentary, dismissing the First Lady as unimportant. He predicted the film would fail at the box office, even though he hadn’t watched it and didn’t plan to.

Frank Scheck, writing for The Hollywood Reporter, described the film as a costly piece of propaganda. He predicted it would likely appeal primarily to audiences attracted by the Republican Party. Owen Gleiberman of Variety likened the film to a lengthy advertisement.

But it wasn’t just the Hollywood media outlets that were pulling down the Rotten Tomatoes score.

Film critic Keith Uhlich began his negative review of Melania by stating he would never watch it. This is different from YouTube critic Grace Randolph, who faced criticism for her Primate review after admitting she left the movie before it finished. Uhlich didn’t even watch Melania before writing his review, and his score has since been taken down – either by him or by Rotten Tomatoes.

While the artistic quality of Melania is open to debate, the box office numbers are not.

What the Box Office Reveals

According to a report by John Nolte at Breitbart News, the new documentary featuring Melania Trump is already performing better than several recent films starring major Hollywood actors. Nolte points out that those other films didn’t face the intense and widespread negative publicity that this documentary has. The film also stars Donald Trump, and both he and Melania are well-known public figures.

The movie Melania landed at number three in this weekend’s domestic box office rankings. It followed Send Help, the new horror-thriller from Sam Raimi, which took the top spot, and Iron Lung, a sci-fi horror film by YouTuber Markiplier. Notably, all three of the top movies were newly released.

I’ve noticed something really interesting. The people who stopped trusting traditional news outlets for political opinions during the 2024 election seem to be doing the same thing with movie reviews. It’s like they made their choice at the polls with Trump, and now they’re ‘voting’ with their wallets at the box office, and surprisingly, they’re showing up for Melania’s film despite what the experts predicted.

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2026-02-02 21:56