“Melania” opened to the best box office numbers for a documentary in a decade after premiering Thursday in close to 1,800 screens nationwide.
The documentary on the First Lady, directed by Brett Ratner, debuted to $7 million, surpassing recent hits like 2024’s “Am I Racist?” which opened to $5.4 million, Deadline reported.
The Amazon MGM Studios’ $75 million production is on track to be the best-performing non-fiction feature for 10 years, as Melania Trump wrote on X.
“MELANIA, the film. #1 Highest Opening In 10 Yrs (Doc) Loved By All – “A” CinemaScore,” she wrote, also reposting a message of congratulations from Elon Musk.
Older women made up the majority of the audience, with 72% of the opening-day tickets going to females aged over 55.
Amazon spent an estimated $35 million on global marketing for the movie, which makes it the most expensive documentary in history.
That advertising featured a big ad on the Las Vegas sphere timed for the one-year anniversary of the inauguration on Jan. 20.
