Newsmax continued its hype of the documentary film about Melania Trump with a Jan. 29 article fawning over the film:
First lady Melania Trump marked another high-profile moment Thursday night with the premiere of her self-produced documentary “Melania” at the Trump-Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts in Washington, D.C., kicking off its nationwide debut ahead of Friday’s theatrical and global release.
The first couple arrived together on a black carpet — a stylistic choice tied to the film’s bold black-and-white marketing theme — before an invite-only audience gathered to see how the first lady framed her role during the 20 days leading up to her husband’s 2025 inauguration.
Melania Trump told reporters at the premiere the documentary was “beautiful,” “emotional,” “fashionable,” and “cinematic.” She reflected her hope that audiences will get a rare, personal glimpse into her transition from private citizen to first lady.
[…]Whether the documentary will find a broad audience remains to be seen, but for now it has put Melania Trump’s story — on her own terms — front and center.
“I think they’re going to see a glamour they’ve never seen before, and I think our country needs glamour,” the president said. “A lot about the beauty and the pageantry and things we haven’t seen in a long time.”
This was joined by a Jan. 31 article featuring the film’s producer gushing over the film:
The new Amazon MGM documentary “Melania” is tracking toward a stronger-than-expected opening weekend of at least $8 million, a result that would mark the biggest debut for a documentary in 10 years.
Marc Beckman, the movie’s producer, told Newsmax‘s “The Count” on Saturday that the opening weekend has been “such an incredible success.”
“It’s official,” he said. “We are the number one highest opening in the past decade for documentaries.”
Carrie Sheffield followed with an unsurprisingly gushing Feb. 1 preview of the film:
Audiences will feel uplifted by the new film “Melania,” which debuted in theaters nationwide on January 29.
[…]I attended a screening on Thursday night at the Trump-Kennedy Center in Washington, where Melania Trump took center stage to introduce the film as President Trump looked down from his presidential balcony box.
“Creating a film and launching a global marketing campaign is not [an] easy feat,” Melania Trump said. “I’m fortunate to be surrounded by a visionary team.
“First, I would like to thank my husband, America’s director, Donald Trump. Thank you for providing our family with a life filled with experiences that only one could imagine.”
The movie was financed by Amazon MGM Studios and reportedly cost $75 million to create — $40 million on film rights, plus $35 million on marketing.
[…]The film is a work of art with incredible cinematography (including what appears to be drone shots of Mar-a-Lago), light, and sound.
That includes a poignant, eclectic soundtrack with a mix of Rolling Stones, ’80s, and other pop tunes along with beautiful European classical music like “Air On G” by J.S. Bach and “Bolero” by French composer Maurice Ravel. And of course, there’s plenty of stunning fashion, especially stilettos.
[…]Watching the film, I felt inspired to learn about Melania Trump’s journey, vision, and passion. Our First Lady embodies strength, grace, faith, love of country and family.
Melania Trump is an amazing role model for young women — and all Americans — to become the best version of themselves, as the name of her children’ s program “Be Best” encourages.
Or as Melania Trump states in the film: “As First Lady, the real nobility is becoming stronger than the person I was yesterday.”
Newsmax used a Feb. 5 article to cheer how well the film did during its opening weekend:
The feature-length documentary “Melania” posted another strong day at the box office Monday, hauling in an estimated $1 million in ticket sales as Amazon MGM Studios moved quickly to expand the film into hundreds of additional theaters nationwide, according to studio sources.
“Melania,” directed by Brett Ratner, centers on first lady Melania Trump’s experiences in the 20 days before President Donald Trump’s second inauguration.
It has drawn what producers describe as a growing wave of grassroots support during its opening weekend, prompting the studio to add the documentary to more than 200 new theaters across the country.
Despite that strong opening, business fell off quickly; in the following month, the film generated only about $8 million for a total of $16 million — a sad showing particularly given its reported $75 million cost. Newsmax didn’t really discuss that part.