{"id":2256719,"date":"2026-01-29T18:39:30","date_gmt":"2026-01-29T18:39:30","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/?p=2256719"},"modified":"2026-01-29T18:39:30","modified_gmt":"2026-01-29T18:39:30","slug":"melania-doc-pulled-from-theaters-in-south-africa-amid-tension-between-the-country-and-donald-trump","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/melania-doc-pulled-from-theaters-in-south-africa-amid-tension-between-the-country-and-donald-trump\/","title":{"rendered":"\u201cMelania\u201d doc pulled from theaters in South Africa amid tension between the country and Donald Trump"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><\/p>\n<div data-article-body=\"true\">\n<p class=\"mb-4 text-lg md:leading-8 break-words\"><a rel=\"nofollow\" target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/ew.com\/person\/melania-trump\/\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\" data-ylk=\"slk:Melania Trump;elm:context_link;itc:0;sec:content-canvas\" class=\"link \">Melania Trump<\/a>\u2019s documentary has been pulled from all theaters in South Africa just days before its scheduled release.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p class=\"mb-4 text-lg md:leading-8 break-words\">The film\u2019s local distributor, Filmfinity, announced on Wednesday that it would no longer release <em>Melania<\/em> on Friday due to \u201crecent developments,\u201d <a rel=\"nofollow\" target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/2026\/01\/28\/world\/africa\/melania-trump-documentary-south-africa-cancel.html\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\" data-ylk=\"slk:The New York Times;elm:context_link;itc:0;sec:content-canvas\" class=\"link \"><em>The New York Times<\/em><\/a> reports.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p class=\"mb-4 text-lg md:leading-8 break-words\">\u201cBased on recent developments, we\u2019ve taken the decision to not go ahead with a theatrical release in territory,\u201d Thobashan Govindarajulu, Filmfinity\u2019s Head of Sales and Marketing, said.<\/p>\n<figure class=\"relative mb-4\">\n<div class=\"relative\"><button aria-label=\"View larger image\" class=\"group absolute bottom-0 size-full\" data-ylk=\"elm:expand;itc:1;sec:image-lightbox;slk:lightbox-open;\"><span class=\"absolute bottom-3 right-3 rounded-full bg-white p-3 opacity-100 shadow-elevation-3 transition-opacity duration-300 group-hover:block group-hover:opacity-100 md:p-[17px] lg:bottom-6 lg:right-6 lg:bg-white\/90 lg:p-5 lg:opacity-0 lg:shadow-none\"><svg viewbox=\"0 0 22 22\" aria-hidden=\"true\" class=\"size-4 lg:size-6\" width=\"22\" height=\"22\"><path d=\"M12.372.92c0-.506.41-.916.915-.916L21 0l-.004 7.712a.917.917 0 0 1-1.832 0V3.183l-6.827 6.828-1.349-1.348 6.828-6.828h-4.529a.915.915 0 0 1-.915-.915M1.835 17.816l6.828-6.828 1.349 1.349-6.829 6.827h4.529a.915.915 0 0 1 0 1.831L0 21l.004-7.713a.916.916 0 0 1 1.831 0z\"\/><\/svg><\/span><\/button><dialog aria-label=\"Modal Dialog\" aria-modal=\"true\" class=\"fixed bottom-0 left-0 right-0 top-0 z-4 size-full max-h-none max-w-none bg-white hidden\"\/><\/div><figcaption class=\"relative text-sm mt-1 pr-2.5\">\n<div style=\"max-height:none;overflow:visible\"><i>&#8216;Melania&#8217; documentary poster <\/i><\/p>\n<p>Amazon MGM Studios<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p class=\"mb-4 text-lg md:leading-8 break-words\">While Govindarajulu declined to share what specific recent developments led to the film getting pulled, he noted that Filmfinity wasn\u2019t pressured or asked to cancel its theatrical run. \u201cThat was our decision,\u201d he added.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p class=\"mb-4 text-lg md:leading-8 break-words\">The move comes amid ongoing tension between South Africa and Donald Trump, propelled by rising tariffs and the <a rel=\"nofollow\" target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/www.bbc.com\/news\/articles\/c9wg5pg1xp5o\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\" data-ylk=\"slk:president\u2019s widely debunked claims;elm:context_link;itc:0;sec:content-canvas\" class=\"link \">president\u2019s widely debunked claims<\/a> that a white genocide is being committed in South Africa.<\/p>\n<p class=\"mb-4 text-lg md:leading-8 break-words\">Representatives for Filmfinity and Amazon MGM Studios did not immediately respond to <em>Entertainment Weekly<\/em>&#8216;s request for comment.<\/p>\n<p class=\"mb-4 text-lg md:leading-8 break-words\">Mark Sardi, the chief executive officer of South Africa movie chain Ster-Kinekor, told <em>The New York Times<\/em> that he didn\u2019t know why Filmfinity had pulled <em>Melania<\/em>, given that it had complied with all local regulations.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p class=\"mb-4 text-lg md:leading-8 break-words\">\u201cOur basic position would be we\u2019re not in the business of censorship,\u201d he told the outlet. \u201cI expect the decision would have been a commercial one balanced with a whole lot of current issues.\u201d<\/p>\n<p class=\"mb-4 text-lg md:leading-8 break-words\"><strong><em>Get your daily dose of entertainment news, celebrity updates, and what to watch with\u00a0our\u00a0<a rel=\"nofollow\" target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/ew.com\/ew-dispatch-newsletter-11812417\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\" data-ylk=\"slk:EW Dispatch newsletter;elm:context_link;itc:0;sec:content-canvas\" class=\"link \">EW Dispatch newsletter<\/a>.<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n<p class=\"mb-4 text-lg md:leading-8 break-words\"><em>Melania<\/em> gives an inside look at the first lady\u2019s life in the 20 days leading up to her husband 2024 re-election. The film was directed by Brett Ratner, marking his first film since being <a rel=\"nofollow\" target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/ew.com\/movies\/2017\/11\/01\/brett-ratner-sexual-misconduct\/\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\" data-ylk=\"slk:accused of sexual misconduct by multiple women;elm:context_link;itc:0;sec:content-canvas\" class=\"link \">accused of sexual misconduct by multiple women<\/a>\u00a0in 2017. He has denied the accusations.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p class=\"mb-4 text-lg md:leading-8 break-words\">This is the latest setback for the documentary, which is <a rel=\"nofollow\" target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/ew.com\/melania-doc-cost-amazon-usd75-million-but-headed-for-quiet-box-office-debut-11894846\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\" data-ylk=\"slk:projected to earn somewhere between $2 and $5 million dollars in its opening weekend;elm:context_link;itc:0;sec:content-canvas\" class=\"link \">projected to earn somewhere between $2 and $5 million dollars in its opening weekend<\/a>. That number, however, pales in comparison to the roughly $75 million that billionaire Jeff Bezos\u2019 Amazon MGM Studios spent acquiring the doc and on its subsequent marketing and promotions.<\/p>\n<p class=\"mb-4 text-lg md:leading-8 break-words\">Speaking with EW, Daniel Loria, senior vice president and editorial director at BoxOfficePro, explained that he believes it\u2019s a \u201creach\u201d that <em>Melania<\/em> will achieve a $5 million debut, noting that \u201cthese sort of public-figure documentaries usually get bought and produced for streaming.\u201d He added, \u201cThat&#8217;s the real value for these things.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p class=\"mb-4 text-lg md:leading-8 break-words\">Still, the president has shown his support for his wife\u2019s film, calling it a \u201c<a rel=\"nofollow\" target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/truthsocial.com\/@realDonaldTrump\/posts\/115962472454059914\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\" data-ylk=\"slk:MUST WATCH;elm:context_link;itc:0;sec:content-canvas\" class=\"link \">MUST WATCH<\/a>\u201d and claiming that tickets are \u201cselling out, FAST!\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n<p class=\"mb-4 text-lg md:leading-8 break-words\">However, <em>The Late Show <\/em>host Stephen Colbert appeared to debunk the president\u2019s claims in <a rel=\"nofollow\" target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/ew.com\/stephen-colbert-blasts-melania-trump-documentary-ahead-of-opening-weekend-11894506\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\" data-ylk=\"slk:his opening monologue on Tuesday;elm:context_link;itc:0;sec:content-canvas\" class=\"link \">his opening monologue on Tuesday<\/a>, revealing that \u201czero tickets\u201d had been sold for two Saturday evening screenings of the film in Times Square.\u00a0\u201cNow, usually, to see Trump bomb this hard, you\u2019d have to be on a Venezuelan fishing boat,\u201d Colbert quipped.<\/p>\n<p><em>Melania<\/em> opens Friday.<\/p>\n<p class=\"mb-4 text-lg md:leading-8 break-words\">Read the original article on <a rel=\"nofollow\" target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/ew.com\/melania-doc-pulled-from-south-africa-theaters-11895051\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\" data-ylk=\"slk:Entertainment Weekly;elm:context_link;itc:0;sec:content-canvas\" class=\"link \">Entertainment Weekly<\/a><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<p><em> \u2018 The preceding article may include information circulated by third parties \u2019 <\/em><\/p>\n<p><em> \u2018 Some details of this article were extracted from the following source www.yahoo.com \u2019 <\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Melania Trump\u2019s documentary has been pulled from all theaters in South Africa just days before its scheduled release.\u00a0 The film\u2019s local distributor, Filmfinity, announced on Wednesday that it would no longer release Melania on Friday due to \u201crecent developments,\u201d The New York Times reports.\u00a0 \u201cBased on recent developments, we\u2019ve taken the decision to not go [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":2256720,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"om_disable_all_campaigns":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"jnews-multi-image_gallery":[],"jnews_single_post":[],"jnews_primary_category":[],"jnews_social_meta":[],"footnotes":""},"categories":[25172],"tags":[293560,22389,31122,436990,366882,328685],"class_list":["post-2256719","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-entertainment","tag-amazon-mgm-studios","tag-donald-trump","tag-melania-trump","tag-recent-developments","tag-south-africa","tag-theatrical-release"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/01\/Melania-doc-pulled-from-theaters-in-South-Africa-amid-tension.jpeg","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2256719","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2256719"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2256719\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2256721,"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2256719\/revisions\/2256721"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/2256720"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2256719"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2256719"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2256719"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}