While the first lady’s documentary is being hailed as a success in America, it met a far poorer reception in the United Kingdom.
In its opening weekend, Melania made just £32,974 (approximately $44,604) across 155 cinemas in the U.K. and Ireland. That’s an average of £212.80 per screen, landing it at No. 29 at the box office.
The box office was instead led by Chloé Zhao‘s critically acclaimed Hamnet, the Sydney Sweeney-starring thriller The Housemaid, and the Jason Statham-starring Shelter, all of which far outpaced Melania. Hamnet, for example, raked in £1,412,612 (nearly $2 million). Meanwhile, the independently financed film Iron Lung reached No. 4 at the box office with a total of £948,731 ($1,282,874).
For a documentary, Melania Trump’s film is being touted as a success in the U.S., where it made $7 million in its opening weekend. This figure crowned it the best opening for a documentary of its kind in a decade, but still paled in comparison to its enormous budget.
In the U.K., the film made headlines for having near-empty screenings nationwide. Several theaters were reportedly filled with journalists reviewing the film rather than the average audience member. Prior to its release, the film faced “soft” ticket sales, according to Tim Richards, chief executive of one of the country’s biggest cinema operators, Vue.
Across social media, users posted screenshots of cinemas in the U.K. and Ireland showing very few seats booked.
In Australia, interest in the doc was even lower, according to the Guardian. Screened across 33 cinemas in the country, Melania took home $32,399 in its opening weekend. The film placed No. 31 at the box office.
Meanwhile, South Africa pulled the film from cinemas entirely following low interest.
While the doc performed relatively well in America, there are rumors that tickets were purchased in bulk to boost sales.
Amazon MGM bought Melania for a staggering $40 million and allegedly spent another $35 in promoting the film. That could make it the most expensive documentary ever produced, meaning its box-office earnings were weaker than MAGA would like.
