Amazon reportedly paid an estimated $40 million to acquire "Melania" and spent an additional $35 million on marketing.

While the documentary is exceeding box office expectations, it's unlikely to make a profit in theaters.

Amazon.com, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMZN)-owned MGM Studios' documentary about First Lady Melania Trump is exceeding box office expectations. A Breakout Opening Weekend For A Polarizing Film The documentary "Melania" is on pace to earn about $7 million in its opening weekend,

Melania, Amazon MGM’s documentary about Melania Trump, is billed as a behind-the-scenes look at the once-and-future first lady in the 20 days leading up to the inauguration last year. While much has been written about what Melania is,

By financial standards, the film is not a winner, at least not yet. The company that financed it, Amazon MGM Studios, still has a long way to go to break even.

Amazon and MGM’s $40 million “Melania” documentary is reporting weak advance sales, a signal for a wide release. Insiders have described demand as dismal. The Melania Trump documentary covers three weeks the first lady experienced before Donald Trump’s second-term inauguration date and premieres January 29 at the renamed Trump Kennedy Center,

Melania, a documentary about the first lady and the days leading up to her husband’s second inauguration, took in a stronger-than-expected $7.16 million at US and Canadian theaters in its opening weekend,

At the splashy Kennedy Center premiere for Melania, the Amazon MGM documentary opening this weekend, the movie’s director, Brett Ratner, and First Lady Melania Trump defended the cost of the project,

The new Amazon doc, which takes place in the lead-up to President Trump's 2025 inauguration, keeps its subject at arm's length.

Amazon's "Melania" documentary earned an estimated $7 million at the domestic box office in its opening weekend, a strong start for the film.

The film is the latest streamer-funded, carefully choreographed, boring, celebrity puff piece being branded as a documentary. It's also a harbinger of what sorts of "true stories" are being championed these days.

Amazon spent $40 million for the rights to “Melania” at auction, and reportedly spent an additional $35 million on the marketing and theatrical release, an unusually high spend for a documentary.