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Amazon's Promotion of 'Melania' Has Critics Questioning Its Motives (NYT gift subscription)
The tech giant is spending $35 million to promote its film about the first lady, far more than is typical for documentaries.
Link to tweet
https://www.nytimes.com/2026/01/28/business/media/amazon-melania-trump-film-critics.html?unlocked_article_code=1.IFA.yCYX.cTpP_WR1iSmX&smid=url-share
The film’s rollout is huge — a $35 million marketing campaign that includes television commercials during N.F.L. playoff games and a premiere simulcast in 25 theaters in the United States. Starting Friday, the film hits 3,300 theaters worldwide.
The latest superhero movie?
Try Amazon’s all-hands-on-deck handling of “Melania,” which follows Melania Trump, the first lady, in the days leading up to her husband’s second inauguration. Ms. Trump produced the film, which was directed by Brett Ratner, who has not made a movie since 2017, when multiple women accused him of sexual misconduct. He has denied those accusations.
Amazon paid Ms. Trump’s production company $40 million for the rights to “Melania,” about $26 million more than the next closest bidder, Disney. The fee includes a related docuseries that is scheduled to air later this year. The budget for “Melania” is unknown, but documentaries that follow a subject for a limited amount of time usually cost less than $5 million to produce. The $35 million for marketing is 10 times what some other high-profile documentaries have received.
All of which has a lot of Hollywood questioning whether Amazon’s push is anything more than the company’s attempt to ingratiate itself with President Trump.
The latest superhero movie?
Try Amazon’s all-hands-on-deck handling of “Melania,” which follows Melania Trump, the first lady, in the days leading up to her husband’s second inauguration. Ms. Trump produced the film, which was directed by Brett Ratner, who has not made a movie since 2017, when multiple women accused him of sexual misconduct. He has denied those accusations.
Amazon paid Ms. Trump’s production company $40 million for the rights to “Melania,” about $26 million more than the next closest bidder, Disney. The fee includes a related docuseries that is scheduled to air later this year. The budget for “Melania” is unknown, but documentaries that follow a subject for a limited amount of time usually cost less than $5 million to produce. The $35 million for marketing is 10 times what some other high-profile documentaries have received.
All of which has a lot of Hollywood questioning whether Amazon’s push is anything more than the company’s attempt to ingratiate itself with President Trump.