One film sure to draw much attention upon its release on Friday will be Melania, a documentary about first lady Melania Trump's return to the White House. The film from Amazon MGM Studios will actually debut Thursday night at the Kennedy Center, newly rebranded as the Trump Kennedy Center, but the industry will be closely following opening weekend numbers after that. MarketWatch reports that it's expected to be shown in about 2,000 theaters in the US and 5,000 worldwide, but the details are under wraps.
The question is whether the documentary will make money in a tough market overall for the movie industry. CNN reports that a relatively high $35 million has been spent on marketing, and that's on top of the $40 million the studio paid the first lady for the film. Melania Trump isn't merely the subject—she's an executive producer with extensive control. Her adviser and agent Marc Beckman says she personally helped craft the trailer, chose the music, and shaped the global ad campaign, which is rolling out in nearly 30 countries.
Early numbers suggest a solid if unspectacular debut, reports Puck. Forecasts from the National Research Group project an opening weekend of $5 million, which "would actually be a pretty good opening number for a documentary in this theatrical climate," writes Matthew Belloni. He notes that Chris Pratt's Mercy might not hit $10 million this weekend. A $5 million opening might not seem like a great return on investment, but Amazon expects to make most of its money from the movie on streaming. A date for the movie's streaming debut has not been announced. (Brett Ratner is the director.)
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