The First Lady

Weekend Preview: Rachel McAdams to be First Lady of Box Office Ahead of Melania Trump Doc

Granted, the two films couldn't be more different, with 'Melania' hoping to score the biggest opening for a documentary in a decade with a $5 million domestic launch.

By Pamela McClintock, The Hollywood Reporter

Melania Trump's new documentary 'Melania' was directed by Brett Ratner Amazon/MGM Studios

If all goes well, First Lady Melania Trump and Amazon MGM Studios will be able to boast the biggest opening in a decade for a documentary when her new film, the Brett Ratner-directed Melania, opens nationwide in more than 1,500 theaters across the U.S. this weekend.

That translates to a domestic opening just north of Angel Studios’ doc After Death, which launched to exactly $5 million from 2,645 theaters in 2023, according to Comscore. While leading tracking service NRG is indeed predicting a launch in the $5 million range, exhibitors aren’t so bullish, based on the pace of advance ticket sales. Social media is rife with theater maps showing auditoriums where only a smattering of tickets have been sold. Indeed, it’s hard to remember a doc that’s been so scrutinized in terms of its opening number. The bigger question is whether it can sustain an audience in the weeks ahead before it goes to Prime.

If Melania does get to $5 million, it would also be one of the top nationwide openings ever for a doc that i FINISH READING HERE

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