A senior adviser to the first lady used the box-office failure of Tom Cruise’s Digger to brag about the performance of Melania Trump’s controversial documentary.
“On a per-theater basis, MELANIA outperformed Tom Cruise’s DIGGER by approximately 67%, despite opening in roughly half as many theaters,” wrote senior adviser Marc Beckman on social media on Tuesday. He added, “(Digger played in 1,543 more theaters than MELANIA.)”
The political satire Digger, which Deadline reports cost $160 million to make, was one of the biggest box-office disappointments this year, grossing only $8 million domestically ($20 million worldwide) in its opening weekend. It marked the weakest opening for a film starring Tom Cruise in almost two decades.
Although Melania performed better relative to its budget, the documentary is still widely considered a flop. Amazon reportedly sunk $75 million into the film, which earned just over $7 million in its opening weekend, and a worldwide total of just $16.6 million.
Critics also ranked Digger significantly higher on Rotten Tomatoes. The dark comedy earned a 51 percent approval rating from critics, while only 9 percent of critics gave Melania a positive review.
The Daily Beast’s review of Melania called the documentary an “abomination of filmmaking” and said it amounted to a “level of insipid propaganda that almost resists review; it’s so expected and utterly pointless.”
Beckman’s post follows an announcement from Melania that Amazon Prime Video will soon be releasing a new docuseries about her life.
Melania followed the first lady in the 20 days before her husband, President Trump, was inaugurated for the second time. She says the new series will share even more about her private life.
“It will be very different from what is in the movie. It’s more conversation, one-on-one with me,” Melania told Fox & Friends in September.
She hinted that the series will come out in November.
Beckman, who also served as a producer on Melania, has gushed over the first lady and the unsuccessful documentary before.
“To me, the most heartwarming sentiment is that everybody embraced our first lady,” he told Fox News after the film’s premiere. “I never saw so many people talk about how wonderful she is, how devoted she is to the country, her business, and to her family.”
Obsessed with pop culture and entertainment? Follow us on Substack and YouTube for even more coverage.
