{"id":2260679,"date":"2026-02-01T05:08:22","date_gmt":"2026-02-01T05:08:22","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/?p=2260679"},"modified":"2026-02-01T05:08:22","modified_gmt":"2026-02-01T05:08:22","slug":"melania-earns-8m-opening-weekend-marking-best-documentary-debut-in-over-10-years","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/melania-earns-8m-opening-weekend-marking-best-documentary-debut-in-over-10-years\/","title":{"rendered":"&#8216;Melania&#8217; earns $8M opening weekend, marking best documentary debut in over 10 years"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><\/p>\n<div data-article-body=\"true\">\n<p class=\"mb-4 text-lg md:leading-8 break-words\">&#8220;Melania,&#8221; <a rel=\"nofollow\" target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/www.foxnews.com\/category\/entertainment\/genres\/documentary\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\" data-ylk=\"slk:the documentary;elm:context_link;itc:0;sec:content-canvas\" class=\"link \">the documentary<\/a> detailing the 20 days in the <a rel=\"nofollow\" target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/www.foxnews.com\/category\/person\/melania-trump\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\" data-ylk=\"slk:first lady;elm:context_link;itc:0;sec:content-canvas\" class=\"link \">first lady<\/a>\u2019s life before President Donald Trump took office for the second time last year, is set to beat expectations, earning $8 million at the box office in its opening weekend, the best documentary opening in more than a decade, according to reports.<\/p>\n<p class=\"mb-4 text-lg md:leading-8 break-words\">The documentary will likely finish third behind horror films &#8220;Iron Lung&#8221; and Rachel McAdams\u2019 &#8220;Send Help,&#8221; but beat out action star Jason Statham\u2019s &#8220;Shelter,&#8221; according to The Hollywood Reporter.<\/p>\n<p class=\"mb-4 text-lg md:leading-8 break-words\">Amazon paid $75 million for the distribution rights and to market the Brett Ratner-directed film, which opened across the country this weekend and in 27 countries, making it the most expensive documentary in history, according to The Reporter. <\/p>\n<p class=\"mb-4 text-lg md:leading-8 break-words\">The first lady was also an executive producer on the project, which was produced by Muse Films, a production company the first lady launched late last year.<\/p>\n<p class=\"mb-4 text-lg md:leading-8 break-words\"><a rel=\"nofollow\" target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/www.foxnews.com\/media\/melania-trump-calls-national-unity-minneapolis-tensions-remain-high-following-federal-shootings\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\" data-ylk=\"slk:Melania Trump Calls For National Unity As Minneapolis Tensions Remain High Following Federal Shootings;elm:context_link;itc:0;sec:content-canvas\" class=\"link \"><strong>Melania Trump Calls For National Unity As Minneapolis Tensions Remain High Following Federal Shootings<\/strong><\/a><\/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\">\n<p>First lady Melania Trump walks from the stage after speaking before the premiere of her movie &#8220;Melania&#8221; at The Kennedy Center on Thursday.<\/p>\n<p><span>(AP Newsroom)<\/span><\/div>\n<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p class=\"mb-4 text-lg md:leading-8 break-words\">The strong box office showing was thanks mainly to Americans over 55 years old, who made up 78% of ticket buyers, and especially women over 55 who were 72%, according to The Reporter.<\/p>\n<p class=\"mb-4 text-lg md:leading-8 break-words\"><a rel=\"nofollow\" target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/foxnews.onelink.me\/xLDS\/mvaj7wvj\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\" data-ylk=\"slk:Read On The Fox News App;elm:context_link;itc:0;sec:content-canvas\" class=\"link \"><strong><u>Read On The Fox News App<\/u><\/strong><\/a><\/p>\n<p class=\"mb-4 text-lg md:leading-8 break-words\">Theaters in rural areas also brought in an outsize 46% of the weekend draw, which is unusually high for an opening. <a rel=\"nofollow\" target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/www.foxnews.com\/category\/us\/us-regions\/southeast\/florida\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\" data-ylk=\"slk:Florida, Texas and Arizona;elm:context_link;itc:0;sec:content-canvas\" class=\"link \">Florida, Texas and Arizona<\/a> were the top ticket-selling states.<\/p>\n<p class=\"mb-4 text-lg md:leading-8 break-words\">The film has received mixed reviews, with some critics slamming it as propaganda for the Trump administration.<\/p>\n<p class=\"mb-4 text-lg md:leading-8 break-words\"><a rel=\"nofollow\" target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/www.foxnews.com\/media\/trump-says-melania-has-been-more-outspoken-term-trump-kennedy-center-documentary-premiere\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\" data-ylk=\"slk:Trump Says Melania Has Been \u2018More Outspoken\u2019 This Term At Trump Kennedy Center Documentary Premiere;elm:context_link;itc:0;sec:content-canvas\" class=\"link \"><strong>Trump Says Melania Has Been \u2018More Outspoken\u2019 This Term At Trump Kennedy Center Documentary Premiere<\/strong><\/a><\/p>\n<p class=\"mb-4 text-lg md:leading-8 break-words\">A 60-year-old Staten Island man who told The New York Times he rarely goes to the theater, said he bought a ticket for &#8220;Melania&#8221; to see it &#8220;kick Hollywood\u2019s a&#8211;.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p class=\"mb-4 text-lg md:leading-8 break-words\">The Times reported that in at least one screening, attendees erupted in applause during the <a rel=\"nofollow\" target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/www.foxnews.com\/category\/politics\/elections\/presidential\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\" data-ylk=\"slk:president\u2019s swearing-in;elm:context_link;itc:0;sec:content-canvas\" class=\"link \">president\u2019s swearing-in<\/a> and there were shouts of &#8220;Trump 2028!&#8221;<\/p>\n<p class=\"mb-4 text-lg md:leading-8 break-words\">A review from Variety, however, called it a &#8220;documentary that never comes to life. It\u2019s a \u2018portrait\u2019 of the First Lady of the United States, but it\u2019s so orchestrated and airbrushed and stage-managed that it barely rises to the level of a shameless infomercial.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p class=\"mb-4 text-lg md:leading-8 break-words\"><a rel=\"nofollow\" target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/www.foxnews.com\/lifestyle\/melania-world-premiere-president-trump-first-lady-rfk-jr-nicki-minaj-light-up-red-carpet\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\" data-ylk=\"slk:The premiere of &quot;Melania&quot;;elm:context_link;itc:0;sec:content-canvas\" class=\"link \">The premiere of &#8220;Melania&#8221;<\/a> was held in Washington, D.C. on Thursday at the newly named Trump Kennedy Center with guests like Robert F. Kennedy Jr, Dr. Mehmet Oz, Nicki Minaj, Patriots owner Robert Kraft, and former New York Mayor Eric Adams.<\/p>\n<p class=\"mb-4 text-lg md:leading-8 break-words\"><a rel=\"nofollow\" target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/www.foxnews.com\/newsletters?cmpid=fnfirstnl\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\" data-ylk=\"slk:Click Here To Sign Up For Our Lifestyle Newsletter;elm:context_link;itc:0;sec:content-canvas\" class=\"link \"><strong><u>Click Here To Sign Up For Our Lifestyle Newsletter<\/u><\/strong><\/a><\/p>\n<figure class=\"relative mb-4\">\n<div class=\"relative\"><img alt=\"Ad for &quot;Melania&quot; in London.\" loading=\"lazy\" width=\"960\" height=\"540\" decoding=\"async\" data-nimg=\"1\" class=\"rounded-lg\" style=\"color:transparent\" src=\"https:\/\/s.yimg.com\/ny\/api\/res\/1.2\/Z9kQQjL1mWIAZ_DTj5xB.w--\/YXBwaWQ9aGlnaGxhbmRlcjt3PTk2MDtoPTU0MDtjZj13ZWJw\/https:\/\/media.zenfs.com\/en\/fox_news_text_979\/a7fb336b9ba84ce6ed39c270d0e17ad3\"\/><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<p>An ad for &#8220;Melania&#8221; in London on Thursday.<\/p>\n<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p class=\"mb-4 text-lg md:leading-8 break-words\">&#8220;I hope they get to see what I see,&#8221; U.S. attorney <a rel=\"nofollow\" target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/www.foxnews.com\/category\/person\/alina-habba\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\" data-ylk=\"slk:Alina Habba;elm:context_link;itc:0;sec:content-canvas\" class=\"link \">Alina Habba<\/a> told Fox News Digital at the premiere. &#8220;She is incredibly astute. She is incredibly involved. She does everything with grace. She has taken the punches right next to him and always held herself out with such grace. And I&#8217;m happy that for a woman who&#8217;s a girl boss, who&#8217;s literally a legend, and should have been on the cover of Vogue, she&#8217;s going to have her time to shine.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p class=\"mb-4 text-lg md:leading-8 break-words\"><a rel=\"nofollow\" target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/foxnews.onelink.me\/xLDS?pid=AppArticleLink&amp;af_dp=foxnewsaf%3A%2F%2F&amp;af_web_dp=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.foxnews.com%2Fapps-products\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\" data-ylk=\"slk:Click Here To Download The Fox News App;elm:context_link;itc:0;sec:content-canvas\" class=\"link \"><strong>Click Here To Download The Fox News App<\/strong><\/a><\/p>\n<p class=\"mb-4 text-lg md:leading-8 break-words\">Michael Moore\u2019s &#8220;Fahrenheit 9\/11,&#8221; about former President <a rel=\"nofollow\" target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/www.foxnews.com\/category\/person\/george-w-bush\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\" data-ylk=\"slk:George W. Bush;elm:context_link;itc:0;sec:content-canvas\" class=\"link \">George W. Bush<\/a> and the 2001 terrorist attacks on America, is the record-holder for the highest-grossing documentary of all time, earning $119 million in 2004, around $208 million when adjusted for inflation, according to The Reporter.<\/p>\n<p class=\"mb-4 text-lg md:leading-8 break-words\"><em>Original article source:<\/em> <a rel=\"nofollow\" target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/www.foxnews.com\/lifestyle\/melania-documentary-earns-8m-opening-weekend-marking-best-documentary-debut-over-10-years\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\" data-ylk=\"slk:'Melania' earns $8M opening weekend, marking best documentary debut in over 10 years;elm:context_link;itc:0;sec:content-canvas\" class=\"link \">&#8216;Melania&#8217; earns $8M opening weekend, marking best documentary debut in over 10 years<\/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>&#8220;Melania,&#8221; the documentary detailing the 20 days in the first lady\u2019s life before President Donald Trump took office for the second time last year, is set to beat expectations, earning $8 million at the box office in its opening weekend, the best documentary opening in more than a decade, according to reports. The documentary will [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":2260680,"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":[356483,22389,34395,31122,344723],"class_list":["post-2260679","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-entertainment","tag-best-documentary","tag-donald-trump","tag-hollywood-reporter","tag-melania-trump","tag-opening-weekend"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/02\/Melania-earns-8M-opening-weekend-marking-best-documentary-debut-in.jpeg","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2260679","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=2260679"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2260679\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2260681,"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2260679\/revisions\/2260681"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/2260680"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2260679"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2260679"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2260679"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}