Melania Documentary Flops as Crew Reveals Behind-the-Scenes Chaos

[douglas9]

Melania Trump’s new documentary, Melania, is looking like an opening-week box office flop—after Amazon’s MGM studios paid tens of millions of dollars for the rights to it.

The documentary detailing the first lady’s return to the White House is projected to make just $1 million in its first week. While documentaries generally do worse at the box office, the sheer amount of money Amazon spent—$40 million for the rights, $35 million for an aggressive marketing blitz—and the constant stream of Truth Social posts from President Trump make this a particularly pitiful showing.

Melania’s early failure comes as a new report from Rolling Stone details serious labor issues behind the scenes and a whopping two-thirds of the film’s staff requesting not to be credited at the end of the film. Director Brett Ratner, who made headlines after six women accused him of sexual assault and harassment during the #MeToo movement in 2017, was perhaps the most loathed person on set. (Actress Natasha Henstridge alleged that Ratner forced her to perform oral sex on him when she was 19, Olivia Munn claimed that Ratner masturbated in front of her, and more recently, he was pictured shirtless in the Epstein files.)

“I feel a little bit uncomfortable with the propaganda element of this,” one crew member shared, “but Brett Ratner was the worst part of working on this project.”

https://newrepublic.com/post/205753/melania-documentary-flops-behind-scenes-crew-regret

[SunSeeker]

1. "... a whopping two-thirds of the film's staff requesting not to be credited at the end of the film."

[mwmisses4289]

3. You know the film is going to be a flop

when the folks who worked on it dont want to be credited with working on it.

[MarcoZandrini]

21. With Herr Drumpfenfuror...

….its always ETTD.

[Traildogbob]

57. The Feeelim eees floppeeeeng

[PatSeg]

35. They should make a documentary about

the making of the Melania film. I'm sure it would be much more entertaining.

I can't believe how much money Amazon spent for this.

[ms liberty]

52. And probably do much better at the box office!

[PatSeg]

55. Yeah, I'd watch it!

Though I'd probably wait for it to be streaming on TV.

[MustLoveBeagles]

68. I figured it would flop

You're documentary idea is actually a good one. One of the the stars of Troll 2, an awful film, later made a documentary about the experience. Hopefully the crew will eventually make something similar.

[PatSeg]

71. I'm sure it would be a hit

I looked up that creepy director Brett Ratner who had numerous sexual assault charges against him. He looks like the offspring of Harvey Weinstein. He's one of those super insecure short guys with a lot to prove.

[MustLoveBeagles]

72. It's telling that they had to stoop to hiring him

[PatSeg]

73. Yeah, I figure Ratner was probably the only director

who would take the job and meanwhile, it appears that no one wants him in Hollywood anymore.

So many creepy people in the world.

[Horse with no Name]

74. Likely it was just a bribe n/t

[PatSeg]

79. Yes, I'm pretty sure that's the case

I can't imagine anyone thinking this was going to be a blockbuster hit.

[no_hypocrisy]

2. A phrase allegedly credited to Marilyn Monroe:

Last edited Wed Jan 28, 2026, 09:25 AM - Edit history (1)

Who do I have to pay/f*ck to get OFF this picture?"

[GiqueCee]

31. The all-knowing Intertubes...

... claim it was Allison Hayes who first said it while working on Roger Corman's Gunslinger in 1956. The Glamour Girl said that working conditions were abysmal.

[no_hypocrisy]

40. Thank you for the correction.

Interestingly, Katharine Hepburn paid $27,000+, the balance of her bank account to producer, Jed Harris, to be released from her commitment to the play The Lake.

[GiqueCee]

42. Now that's an obscure little tidbit...

... thanks! I love backstory stuff about Hollywood!

[eShirl]

4. MAGA isn't showing up for it?

[Kid Berwyn]

45. Maybe it's a big walk-up crowd.

They’re not making reservations online. Here is the seating available Monday night at the AMC Star Gratiot Cinema in Clinton Township, Macomb County, the heart of Trump Country Michigan, for the 9:40 screening.



Opening night! Har har. It is to laugh.

[aggiesal]

81. Since there are no RED seats, they haven't sold anything. They'll still play it in front of empty seats. n/t

[maxrandb]

5. One of the wealthiest asshats on the planet

has been reduced to being a MAGAt porn fluffer.

Nice job Jeff.

This is why I wouldn't touch an Amazon package without first putting on a condom.

[SergeStorms]

6. What could this "mockumentary" be about?

"I'm gold-digging euro-trash." FINIS

Honestly, it was never about Melanoma's "achievements," anyway. It was Bezos and Co.'s paying indulgences to Hair Furor.

It will go down in history alongside Hitler's Berchtesgaden "home movies" of himself and Eva Braun.

[littlemissmartypants]

7. If you subscribe to Amazon Prime you paid for this.

Then Bezos and Sanchez gave her millions more.

Grifters, tramps and thieves.

(Apologies to Cher.)

[Raven123]

18. Yep. Cancelled mine a while back. Avoid Amazon when possible.

A drop in the bucket to Bezos, but helps me to sleep better.

[thinkingagain]

30. change just tramps

to chumps and it could work

you hear it from the People calling MAGA -Grifters, Chumps and thieves

[FiveFifteen]

8. Vaingloriously flopping...

... Bezos performs a purposeful, sacrificial belly flop onto a frozen lake of morals, likely wearing a bespoke "Be Best" jacket with Trump sneakers barely shimmering in the twilight of his own integrity.

Proving that all the money in the world can't buy you class, let alone respect.

Off to cancel Amazon, long overdue after voiding the WSJ.

The things these billionaires do to fluff Trump's presidency and defend the value of their wealth -- something they cannot even comprehend beyond their material possessions and a balance sheet -- as opposed to leaning on their backbones. In a world full of Bezos, Cooks, and Zucks, be a Dimon, Buffet, or best yet, a Mark Cuban (yes, it is absurd to even think this).

[BigmanPigman]

59. I instructed my family at Xmas

to NOT buy me anything via Amazon. My sister ignored my request and the other 3 family members gave me gift cards to Trader Joe's, Target and Ralph's. I guess trying to get me the items on my list wasn't worth their time and energy to order the items and pay for them a different way. Oh well, I tried to do the right thing at least.

[AverageOldGuy]

9. I'm still asking . . .

Did the film mention that when she met Trump the only English she knew was the phrase: “Anal is $500 extra.”?

[PJMcK]

11. That is comedy gold!

I don’t care if it’s true or not. It made me laugh out loud! When I told my wife, she bent over in laughter.

Thank you for starting my day so wonderfully!

[cloudbase]

26. In multiple languages.

[JokeHer]

50. Hahahaha

Thanks for the hearty laugh!

[hatrack]

10. "Melania: Make Fuck, Get Green Card"

I only wish I'd come up with it the actual title.

[markodochartaigh]

12. On the Regal movies site,

here in deep red Naples, Florida some of the showings are almost completely sold out while others have few seats sold. I wonder if there is some bulk buying of seats going on?

[BlueKota]

19. They have to pay people to go see it.

[tulipsandroses]

33. How many seats in the theaters sold out.?

I went a movie that was a big flop and was surprised how small the room was. I had been to that theater numerous times but never that tiny room.

[markodochartaigh]

58. It is the standard side roooms at the Regal.

75-100 seats, they are recliners now. It is showing in at least 3 separate rooms, but not the big central rooms. I've only been to four movies since the pandemic started. I always check in advance to try and get a private showing so I know a bit about the seating patterns.
This one seems odd because several of the same size rooms are almost sold out, but most screenings have 3 or 4 people.

[mopinko]

41. i have no doubt that will happen if it hasnt already.

i wont believe their numbers. i hope some journo visits and counts butts in seats.

[markodochartaigh]

60. This is a very reich-wing area.

One of the local oiligarchs paid for a busload to go to the failed coup attempt. He and the c-suite executives of his companies have been in all sorts of legal trouble. Here is one scandal.

https://www.gulfshorebusiness.com/news/exploring-venezianos-cooperation-with-fraud-investigation/article_ecbff23f-d413-41c9-b69b-bc05ef618b68.html



https://content.next.westlaw.com/Document/I50b3ff90c1e411eba327bdb97094918d/View/FullText.html?transitionType=Default&contextData=(sc.Default)

[ms liberty]

53. It would be great if someone found out if actual humans sat in all the seats of that showing

My suspicion is it would be discovered to be a seat buying scheme. Then the game becomes, Saudi prince, putin or a tech bro?

[JHB]

64. I'm sure one (or more) of the employees might make a not-for-attribution comment about that...

...in exchange for a small gratuity, or even a free meal.

[Bengus81]

13. Didn't he have this on Amazon for Prime members months ago? But he figured it would bank big

at the box office? He must really think everyone loves Melania. Nah Jeff, just another grifter...........

[PatSeg]

38. Well, in order to qualify for an Oscar

it has to be released to the theaters before streaming.

[kerouac2]

14. Credited for it? More like blamed for it ...

Who tf would actually want to see this movie. She does next to nothing and it going to be mostly bs anyway. Should have disclaimer that is only losely based on real person.

Put her under oath and give her truth serum and have adam schiff question her... Now that would be worth watching.

[GreenWave]

15. Still, this is the best the Trump Crime Syndicate has ever done.

[D_Master81]

16. This was a Bezos investment

I’m sure everyone at Amazon knew this was going to be a flop. The payment for the rights to make it were so over the top it seemed from the start they didn’t really care if it made money. To me this was Bezos doing something to get in the good graces of the regime and nothing more

[617Blue]

44. Yep. Making money wasn't the point. Yet many here still using Amazon.

[Wifes husband]

47. I am sick of this. Some people have to use Amazon

There are products I need that I cannot get any other way. The implied criticism of people using Amazon is irrating

[617Blue]

61. I used to buy stuff there twice a month myself - stopped when Bezos nixed WaPo endorsement.

There are other places to but the things you need.

[MorbidButterflyTat]

77. Agree.

Some of us don't have the luxury of choice.

Some of us don't have the luxury of demanding family members follow our Christmas lists.

Some of us don't have the luxury of family.

Some of us don't appreciate being passive aggressively crapped on because we have no choice.

[Wifes husband]

80. There is also the mobility issue

A lot of people are basically stuck at home. Amazon will often deliver right to my door. This can really matter at times. If this is a problem for some people, tough.

[CrispyQ]

63. For years we shamed people for shopping at Walmart & now it's Amazon.

Walmart put our local True Value out of business. I can buy from Walmart or Amazon or I can drive 15 miles to a bigger town, deal with traffic, & take an hour or more, to buy from a local merchant. We have a huge selection of products to buy, but only a few merchants to buy them from. Walmart may not be quite as evil as Amazon (questionable), but they are a big reason there aren't more local places to shop.

[Javaman]

17. it appears they hired ratner because he alines with the values of the WH.

ewwwwwwwwwwww

[Dulcinea]

46. No one else wants to work with him. nt

[sop]

20. Borowitz: Trump falls into a coma during screening of 'Melania.'

WASHINGTON (The Borowitz Report)—Disaster struck at the White House on Tuesday night when Donald J. Trump fell into what appeared to be an irreversible coma during a screening of the upcoming film “Melania.”

Trump was unresponsive seven minutes into the screening despite the First Lady’s attempts to rouse him by repeatedly swatting his right hand.

“Be wake!” the increasingly irate Mrs. Trump shrieked.

Speaking on condition of anonymity, one White House source said, “He looked like Pete Hegseth at the end of a workday.”

Press secretary Karoline Leavitt later briefed reporters on Trump’s coma, asserting, “This will in no way affect his performance as president.”

[Akakoji]

22. A Tiny Amount of Money

to spend campaigning to be the one that takes over the USPS. Absolutely the worst kept secret ever.

[Conjuay]

23. I don't care

Do you?

[littlemissmartypants]

24. Review the movie here:

https://democraticunderground.com/100220976502
Mother Jones Reports: Melania reviews disappeared

WRITE A REVIEW HERE

[LetMyPeopleVote]

66. The reviews are in

[pwb]

25. Is this a diversion? Glossing over that

she was a young Epstein girl?

[Maru Kitteh]

27. "a little bit uncomfortable" with the propaganda?

You know, kind of like how the assistant to Stalin’s chief supply chain specialist felt kinda bad now and then about some people feeling a little hungry.

[Botany]

28. The Melania movie needs a better title. Melania, I was Slovenia Sex Worker.

Good God in Butter what a bunch of horse shit and lies.

From College Drop Out, to sex worker, to porno films “actor,” to high paid escort, and then to being paid to
pretend to be Donald Trump’s loving wife. She was never really a fashion model.

Boycott Amazon for being “Trump Humpers.”

This movie is up there with Kim Jong Il shooting a 53 in golf, Joe Stalin leading the Red Army into
Berlin in 1945, or w bush “winning” Ohio.

[Joinfortmill]

29. Who would be a part of this? She was a whore, end of story.

Not to disparage whores, just saying.

[IbogaProject]

36. She is still a whore

She is still standing by Mr Turd.

[Ping Tung]

32. Her Highness responds:

[Upthevibe]

34. douglas9..........

I LOVE it that a majority of the staff didn't want to be credited.........

[Xolodno]

82. They needed a pay check...

...and that's about it. They took the money and ran and will forever deny they ever worked on it.

[Johonny]

37. Trump, who's life is a giant shitshow

Somehow manages to make a dull lifeless uninteresting movie

How bad a director do you have to be . . .

[AZLD4Candidate]

39. You mean the modern day Triumph of the Will failed?

Yet I struggle to find funding for my award winning historically dramatic screenplays that have won a myriad of awards and accolades from film festivals worldwide?

As the meme said years ago about the Slovenian Strumpet: "Donald was rich, so we make fuck."

[617Blue]

43. Yet people keep shoveling their $$$ to Amazon.

[Botany]

49. Don't like Trump? Don't use Amazon.

Rinse, lather, and repeat.

[GusBob]

48. She pocketed 28 $million. I'm certain she does not care otherwise

eom

[flvegan]

51. How is this sexual predator Ratner back in movie production?

First this pile of Bezos shit and now he's allegedly making a new Rush Hour movie?

[PCIntern]

54. Some body wrote, and I'm paraphrasing,

If this were shown in an airplane, people would still walk out.

[CrispyQ]

56. So Amazon can pay $75 million for a loser movie but can't give their employees a raise or pay higher taxes. -nt

[Wednesdays]

62. It might actually be a good film, but I'll never watch it.

"Good" in that it tells a cohesive narrative, has great photography, etc.

But likely it's a "good" movie in the same sense that "Triumph of the Will" is a good movie.

[LetMyPeopleVote]

65. From Betty Bowers

Only two more days until you can go to an empty theater to see this cinematic masterpiece.

— Mrs. Betty Bowers (@mrsbettybowers.bsky.social) 2026-01-28T15:26:32.520Z

[LetMyPeopleVote]

67. Ashamed 'Melania' Crew Members Hope Documentary 'Flops'

Link to tweet

https://www.thedailybeast.com/obsessed/ashamed-melania-crew-members-hope-documentary-flops

Several crew members who worked on the first lady’s Amazon MGM documentary don’t want their names associated with it.

Rolling Stone reports that two-thirds of Melania’s New York crew requested that their names not be added to the film’s credits. Another source who said they wished they’d had the foresight to remove their name from the film said, “I’m much more alarmed now.”

Another told the publication they’re hoping the film—which required “really long hours,” in a “highly disorganized” and “very” chaotic environment—“flops.”

“Unfortunately, if it does flop, I would really feel great about it,” the crew member said.

Another added, “I feel a little bit uncomfortable with the propaganda element of this.”

[Beartracks]

69. The "propaganda element"? Was there any other purpose to this film at all?

It just seemed like an on-brand Trump vanity project to me, destined for flop-ness. And I only just heard about it a couple days ago, so I'm not sure where that $35 mil went to for marketing.

==============

[SeattleVet]

70. Someone's going to be using this for a tax write-off.

Waiting for the credits to be changed to name 'Alan Smithee' as director when Ratner decides to bail from this turkey.

[MorbidButterflyTat]

75. "Director Brett Ratner, who made headlines after six women accused him of sexual assault and harassment..."

How utterly shocking!!!

Who the heck cares about the disgusting Piggy's disgusting "wife"?

Filth attracts filth.

[Martin68]

76. Garbage in, garbage out.

[Dulcinea]

78. Citizen Trump!

This reminds me of "Citizen Kane" where Kane forces his wife into an opera career she has no talent for, & she's humiliated & attempts suicide. I doubt Melania will react the same way, though, except for leaving eventually. Hasn't she pretty much already left? She doesn't live at the White House.