$40m rights, $35m marketing: Melania Trump documentary sells just one ticket in UK cinemas; netizens call it 'failure'

Amazon released its authorised documentary about Melania Trump in more than 100 UK cinemas this week, expecting it to be a blockbuster, but the ticket sales were so far "soft."

And the film, whose rights were bought by Amazon MGM Studios for $40m (£30m) –reportedly included a considerable sum to the subject of the film, and is spending $35m on a global marketing push. This spend has so far been mostly in the US, with TV spots, billboards and a takeover of Las Vegas’s immersive events venue The Sphere.




And that film sold one ticket for the first 3.10 pm screening on Friday at its flagship Islington branch in London, while two were booked for 6pm, Guardian reported.

At the time of publication, all seats remained available for the 28 screenings of Melania at the Blackburn, Castleford and Hamilton branches.

The picture was slightly rosier at the Cineworld in Wandsworth, which had sold four tickets, while five backrow seats were also booked at the Cineworld in Broughton.

Richards told the Telegraph he received a considerable number of emails from the public criticising Vue’s decision to screen the film. “I have told everyone that, regardless of how we feel about the movie, if it is BBFC [British Board of Film Classification] approved we look at them and 99% of the time we will show it,” he said. “We do not play judge and jury to censor movies.”

The film documented the 20 days preceding Donald Trump’s return to power in January 2025. It was screened at the White House on Saturday and was set to have its official premiere at Washington’s Kennedy Center, which the President renamed the Trump-Kennedy Center in a legally disputed move, on Thursday, before its release in 27 countries.

Netizens react

The film's ticket sale and budget did made public laugh on social media. One of the users on X said, "I'm sorry, this is hilarious ! �������� ������ ������������ �������� for UK première of Melania's film - sales being described as "��������" �� Trump just lies about it being a sell-out, of course he does ! Who frankly would go and see such a thing ? ��"

Another said, "Congrats on getting Amazon to waste $30+M to market this garbage to empty theaters. Hilarious."



One user said, "Melania the Movie is a disaster for Amazon and embarrassing AF for Melania and Trump. $5M opening weekend. They paid her $40 million and another $35M to get it into 1,400 theaters across 27 countries. That’s an average of $3,571 for each theater. FAILURE!"



"I'M LAUGHING SO LOUD I SCARED MY DOG AND I ALMOST PISSED MY PANTS���� THEY SPENT OVER 35 MILLION DOLLARS ON MARKETING THE MELANIA TRUMP MOVIE IN ENGLAND AND IT RESULTED IN ONE TICKET SOLD�������� ONE ******* TICKET ������������������������" another said.