A big-budget documentary about first lady Melania Trump is getting roasted online as theaters struggle to sell tickets ahead of its cinematic release.
The film, which follows Donald Trump’s wife during the 20 days leading up to the president’s second inauguration last year, opens Friday in an estimated 1,500 to 2,000 theaters nationwide.
However, social media users have mocked the apparent lack of interest in Melania by posting screenshots of cinema showtimes with scores of unsold seats just days before its highly publicized release.
“Not a single ticket sold for the opening night 9:55 p.m. showing of Melania at the busiest movie theater in the metro Jacksonville area,” Travis Akers, a former naval intelligence officer turned community activist, posted on X, sharing an image of an empty booking screen in Trump’s adopted home state of Florida.
“How many days until we learn that the RNC bought movie tickets for the Melania movie just to fluff the numbers?” he added.
Author and documentary filmmaker Greg Mitchell posted: “Trump claims that Melania screenings are selling out fast. At my large nearby multiplex, for four screenings on opening day Friday they have so far sold… 20 tickets.”
Journalist Mike Rothschild, an expert on QAnon and other conspiracies, also shared screenshots showing empty Melania screenings at multiple theaters in California.
“Four theaters in the LA area, five total tickets sold for Friday night MELANIA showings,” Rothschild wrote. “AMC in Orange County, Saturday night, zero MELANIA tickets sold.
“These are ZYZZYX ROAD numbers,” he added, referencing the 2006 flop, which at the time had the lowest-grossing opening day in U.S. box office history after earning just $30.
The Daily Beast also found multiple examples of Melania screenings in New York and Los Angeles theaters with either sparsely sold or entirely unsold tickets.
Even a 7:10 p.m. showing at an AMC theater in Lawrenceville, Georgia—a state Trump won in 2024—remained completely unsold as of Tuesday morning.
Billionaire Jeff Bezos’ Amazon MGM Studios bought the rights to the film for $40 million and has reportedly spent an additional $35 million promoting it.
The studio also reportedly paid director Brett Ratner—who has been accused of sexual assault by multiple women—around $40 million to helm the project, according to Puck.
The National Research Group estimates that Melania will pull in just $5 million during its opening weekend.
The film is already bombing overseas. According to The Guardian, Melania is selling poorly—or not at all—in the few dozen cinemas where it is playing across the U.K.
“I’d be amazed if box office gets reported on this title,” one industry analyst told the newspaper.
