Who Saw ‘Melania’ Doc? Older White Women Drove the Box Office

Older white women were behind the box office turnout for “Melania,” a documentary that shadows the first lady of the United States in the 20 days before her husband Donald Trump’s second presidential inauguration.

The Amazon MGM film has grossed $7.04 million from 1,778 North American theaters, a notable debut for a documentary (especially one that doesn’t involve music). The audience was 72% female and 83% over the age of 45, a demographic rarity at a time when the box office is driven by younger men.

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By comparison, the top two films at the domestic box office, Sam Raimi’s survival thriller “Send Help” (which debuted to $20 million) and YouTuber Markiplier’s “Iron Lung” (which debuted to $17.5 million) had similar breakdowns of 50-60% males under the age of 25. Plus, conventional wisdom says older moviegoers — a cohort that’s been harder to reach since COVID — don’t show up on opening weekend.

“This is a rare case,” says David A. Gross, who runs the movie consulting firm Franchise Entertainment Research. “Mainstream moviegoing audiences are primarily 15 to 44, plus families.” He adds that “this older, female audience admires and looks up to Melania as a role model.”

Indeed, audiences were enthusiastic about the film and awarded it an “A” grade on CinemaScore exit polls. About half of inaugural crowds cited “subject matter” as their main reason for wanting to see the film, according to PostTrak. Critical reviews weren’t nearly as kind; “Melania” holds a brutal 10% “rotten” average on Rotten Tomatoes. (Unsurprisingly, PostTrak reports that only 4% of patrons specified that critics’ reviews brought them to theaters for “Melania,” while 0% attributed their ticket purchase to the Rotten Tomatoes score.) Brett Ratner directed the film, his first project since his career was derailed in 2017 by sexual assault allegations.

So who were these enthusiastic older ladies? Nearly 75% of ticket buyers were white, according to PostTrak data. Hispanic moviegoers were the next-largest demographic at 11%, followed by Black and Asian audiences at 4% each. As for the No. 1 and No. 2 films over the weekend, “Send Help” brought out crowds that were 52% white, 21% Hispanic and 15% Black, while “Iron Lung” attracted a group that was 57% white, 21% Hispanic and 10% Asian.

In the United States and Canada, Los Angeles and New York City theaters are traditionally among the top markets. That wasn’t the case with “Melania,” which performed best in rural areas and red cities, including Dallas, Orlando, Tampa, Phoenix and West Palm Beach. Cinemark Palace in West Palm Beach, which isn’t too far from Mar-a-Lago, followed by Regal Belltower in Fort Myers, AMC Thoroughbred in Nashville, Epic Old Mill Playhouse in Orlando and Regal Naples in Fort Myers.

“It’s a niche market who wants to see a film like this,” says Jeff Bock, a box office analyst with Exhibitor Relations. “These are typically people who don’t go to the movies. This is the film that sways them to go to theaters.”

Amazon MGM spent a staggering amount on “Melania,” acquiring the feature and a subsequent straight-to-streaming series for $40 million. The studio is also committed to spending a massive $35 million on marketing expenses. Those are unprecedented costs considering documentaries aren’t traditionally a driver of big box office dollars. The price tag of “Melania” has raised questions about Amazon MGM’s motivations, prompting others in the industry to speculate whether the doc is the studio’s attempt to cozy up to the current administration.

“No other studio would spend $75 million for a movie to open to $7 million,” Bock says. “It’s a clear overspend and overreach for political reasons. Amazon is paying for access to the Donald Trump party.” 

While this is a strong start for a documentary, it’s a terrible launch for a film that cost $40 million before marketing fees. Since theater owners keep about 50% of ticket sales, “Melania” is far from financially successful and likely won’t turn a profit in its theatrical run. Amazon, a deep-pocketed company that’s newer to exhibition compared to rivals like Disney and Universal, views the theatrical window as an “important first step in […] a long-tail lifecycle.”

“We’re very encouraged by the strong start and positive audience response, with early box office for ‘Melania’ exceeding our expectations,” said Amazon MGM’s head of domestic theatrical distribution, Kevin Wilson. “This momentum is an important first step in what we see as a long-tail lifecycle for both the film and the forthcoming docu-series, extending well beyond the theatrical window and into what we believe will be a significant run for both on our service. We are confident in the long-term value this rollout will deliver to customers both in theaters, and for years to come on Prime Video.”