Melania Documentary’s Marketing Scheme Is Raising Major Eyebrows
THE Melanie The documentary’s monumental failure has some industry professionals wondering why Amazon took on the project in the first place.
The e-commerce giant’s film studio paid a staggering sum 40 million dollars to direct the film, produced by Melania Trump herself and directed by accused Hollywood attacker and the profoundly canceled filmmaker Brett Ratner.
Some $35 million has been set aside to promote Melanienearly double the original budget, blasting ads onto television screens across the country and paying top dollar for coveted commercial slots during NFL playoff games.
Quite, Melanie is the most expensive documentary film ever produced, with a deployment that is more akin to that of a mid-level blockbuster than that of a non-fictional portrait.
Before the first lady’s film was signed – with much enthusiasm from Amazon founder Jeff Bezos and CEO Andy Jassy – some of the most expensive documentary productions included Planet Eartha groundbreaking portrait of the planet’s different ecosystems that cost the BBC around $25 million, and The world at waran extensive 26-episode documentary series covering hundreds of interviews and costing $17.6 million.
But even these examples fall far short of typical documentary fare. Super size mewhich grossed over $20.6 million at the worldwide box office, cost just $65,000 to produce.
This has left some in Hollywood wondering why Melanie was done in the first place.
“This has to be the most expensive documentary ever made without a music license,” said Ted Hope, the former co-head of films at Amazon Studios. The New York Times. “How can this not be considered favor-seeking or an outright bribe? How can it not be?”
And yet the film attracted almost no attention. The documentary was billed as a never-before-seen depiction of Melania’s life in the days leading up to her husband’s second presidential inauguration — a subject that, judging by ticket sales, no one is interested in.
So far, Melanie has struggled to fill seats, so much so that this realization sparked a social media trend this week in which users post their local AMC or Regal Cinema seat availability for the film’s premiere. Across the country, cinemas are empty.
The situation became so dire that conservative groups got involved, buying up entire blocks of seats or even entire showings in a blatant effort to save the president’s face.
“It’s not an organic request,” a GOP insider told gossip columnist Rob Shuter. Naughty but nice substack. “It’s a matter of optics. Empty rooms look terrible.”
Craigslist ads appeared, with at least one offer paying people up to $50 to attend screenings of the film, although it’s unclear whether the listings are legitimate or a joke.
“If the GOP didn’t buy the seats, no one would,” another source told Shuter.
