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The just-released documentary about US first lady Melania Trump may not reach the bar of cinema art, but for its backer, Jeff Bezos, it represents the attainment of the zenith of Trump flattery. As such, it is an investment in Trump’s favoured currency.
Among the conga line of tech bros who have sought to ingratiate themselves with the US president, Bezos has hit on a potent recipe by enshrining the first lady on the silver screen.
For Bezos’ Amazon, which paid an unprecedented $100 million for distribution rights across 1778 theatres in the US and 3300 worldwide for Melania, the payback won’t come from film-goers.
Rather, the funds will land in Bezos’ account in the Trump Favour Bank.
Sure, that might look like a loss-leader for Bezos, but presidential goodwill and protection can be invaluable. Think regulation, taxation or even tariffs.
And while this seems like a lot of money, for Amazon (capitalised at $US2.5 trillion) and Bezos (worth $US260 billion) to stake on a piece of content with little chance of a financial return, it is little more than a rounding error.
Bezos also owns the aerospace company Blue Origin, which holds major US government contracts, including a $US3.4 billion NASA award to build a lunar lander. Bezos is also the owner of The Washington Post, which Trump sued in 2021, but the case was dismissed in 2023.
(Investing in Melania has been met with an additional layer of dismay by Washington Post staff who are experiencing the cost-cutting knife through newsrooms as the publication looks to enhance profit.)
Bezos’ relationship with Trump had its rocky moments in the past, but the billionaire’s 2024 failure to endorse Democratic presidential candidate Kamala Harris demonstrated the beginning of his transactional relationship with Trump.
Bezos isn’t the only winner. Melania’s cut was a cool US$28 million, according to US reports, so she is flush regardless of how many people show up to the theatre.
This was never going to be a blockbuster at the box office like Avengers: Endgame, which raked in US$357 million on opening and almost $2.8 billion globally.
Melania’s gross proceeds over the opening weekend hit $US7 million (half of which goes to theatre owners), including a dismal box office take from its release in Australia of just over $22,000 and an equally embarrassing lack of support in the UK.
This is despite the firm receiving a $US35 million marketing budget, which is 10 times the promotional spend on comparable documentaries.
That enormous marketing budget contributed to Melania having the highest opening weekend box office take for a documentary since 2012, since the nature film Chimpanzee pulled in US$15 million in today’s dollars.
Audiences across the US, which skewed towards the over-55 female demographic, appeared to eat up the documentary, according to industry newsletter FranchiseRe. However, the critics were not so generous, calling it variously propaganda, without insight, failed hagiography, orchestrated, superficial and boring.
Melania’s weekend debut opened in competition with microbudget sci-fi horror film Iron Lung and another horror thriller, Send Help, both of which raked in more than double the box office receipts of Melania.
Thin theatre crowds have left plenty of opportunity for streamers to catch Melania when it becomes available on Amazon Prime Video in a few weeks.
But Melania represents a meaningful departure from Amazon’s previous documentary offerings.
Amazon was known in Hollywood for nonfiction films with a progressive bent, like I Am Not Your Negro, based on James Baldwin’s unfinished manuscript; Mayor Pete, about Pete Buttigieg’s campaign for president; All In: The Fight for Democracy, about Stacey Abrams and her campaign to stop voter suppression; and Time, about the racial politics of incarceration.
In total, Amazon paid $US12 million for those four films.
This time, Bezos is paying with a different currency.
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