US Edition'Melania' Director Defends $75 Million Documentary Price Tag—Here's Why It's Raised Eyebrows
Director Brett Ratner says the $75 million funds both a feature film and a forthcoming docuseries with high-end production, despite criticism and weak box office projections.
- On Jan. 29 at the Kennedy Center, director Brett Ratner defended Amazon’s $75 million backing, calling criticism `silly` and noting the funding covers at least two bonus episodes.
- Amazon's bidding war, which included Disney, led to a $40 million rights deal, with Marc Beckman saying he shopped the project and pushed for Ratner.
- The production employed as many as 80 crewmembers and featured cinematographers Dante Spinotti, Jeff Cronenweth, Barry Peterson, and editor Alex Márquez during a two-month shoot at Mar-a-Lago estate.
- A star-heavy guest list faced demonstrators behind barricades at the Jan. 29 premiere, while analysts project $3 million to $5 million opening-weekend box-office, making $75 million recoupment unlikely.
- Amazon is banking on streaming upside, backed internally by Andy Jassy, with a $35 million marketing spend—about half in the U.S.—and 20 invitation-only screenings to boost the film.
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'Melania' is released in more than 2,000 US rooms by Amazon and 83 in Spain, distributed by Tripictures. It is expected to collect just over five million there 'Marty Supreme', a frenzied and intelligent criticism of the airs of America's greatness with a superb Timothée Chalamet In the center of Madrid, when one least expects it, a marquee shows the body of Melania Trump. "Starting on January 30," the poster announces. Although in Spain few hav…
Selling ‘Melania’: Brett Ratner and the First Lady Discuss the Making of Their Controversial $75 Million Amazon Doc
Inside the highly unorthodox road to theaters for the lightning rod project as the director opens up about his involvement ("I didn’t do this to get me back into Hollywood") and Trump signals her lifestyle mogul ambitions.
We learn nothing about Melania Trump in the "documentary" that Brett Ratner devotes to him. Melania, on the poster since Friday, is a smoother public relations operation than a botoxed face, as boring as a November rain in Slovenia and less subtle than an American president in swimsuit in Mar-a-Lago.
Melania Trump documentary aired at premiere in New York
The U.S. First Lady Melania Trump's documentary, "Melania" premiered on January 29, with political figures including House Speaker Mike Johnson, special envoy Steve Witkoff and, of course, President Donald Trump himself. The Amazon-funded film cost 75 million dollars for production and marketing, but some question whether it's a way for Amazon founder Jeff Bezos to get on the White House's good side.
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