Some sort of noteworthy Event for this website...

[M.10rda]

I haven't seen anyone mention MELANIA yet, and that seems like an oversight given our purview...

https://cdn.prod.dailykos.com/images/1520122/large/20260122edshe-b.jpg?1769106308

As early as Friday morning, some very enthusiastic coverage was coming in regarding the errr underwhelming attendance in other countries. For example, the first scheduled screening in London had sold only 1 ticket. I dunno how that is for a Friday afternoon opening in 2026, but 25 years ago when I ran movie theaters it would have portented a rather... slow opening weekend. Similar stats were plentiful across Europe:
https://www.buzzfeed.com/mjs538/melania-movie-internationally

In Australia, something like 20 tickets were sold all weekend - yes, in the entire country. Apparently the film is being pulled from Australian theaters altogether.

More anecdotes:
https://www.dailykos.com/stories/2026/1/30/2366287/-Melania-doc-already-a-flop-overseas

Domestically and globally, the story of MELANIA's performance is a bit more... complex. Weekend grosses seem to be approximated at the $5-$7 million neighborhood. For a documentary, this is actually very very good!

However, keep in mind that the reported budget for MELANIA was $75 million dollars, though the actual cost is somewhere north of that. Amazon spent a reported $35 million on advertising and promo, on top of $40 million to Melania. Surely the actual production and post-production costs weren't zero... although sources who served on the crew have talked about 12-18 hour shoots with no catering  - yes, Amazon didn't bother to feed the poor b*****ds shooting their documentary - surely they paid director Brett Ratner, beloved auteur behind the RUSH HOUR canon.

So, Amazon is losing money on MELANIA, but some people are seeing it. How many people? The United States' dear President initially commented on social media about "tickets selling fast" and later boasted that MELANIA is "sold out everywhere". That later claim is easily defeated with light research. There have been reports of (large) half-filled theaters in places like Texas and Arkansas - so its legit possible that hundreds of people watched this movie together during its opening weekend.

However, there is also coverage about posts on Craigslist and elsewhere, offering $50 to anyone who would attend domestic screenings of MELANIA for free and endure through the closing credits...  it's worth mentioning that conservative organizations have been known to purchase large blocks of movie tickets and then give them away for free just to get audiences in seats and exposed to propaganda. Paying someone 4Xs an American movie ticket just to sit through a movie is rather more unheard of! And in any case, large-scale "underwriting" of tickets to conservative propaganda has certainly paid off in the past - THE SOUND OF FREEDOM grossed well over a hundred million or something, with occasionally similar reports of "sold out" theaters with a handful of audience members actually watching the movie. So in the case of MELANIA, a meager $5-7million gross is again intriguing. The conservative action orgs don't think there's anything persuasive or educational about this documentary??? 

Whatever one may a priori think about Melania or her husband, it is worth mentioning that MELANIA's director is a notorious sex pest/serial creepster:
https://www.motherjones.com/politics/2026/01/melania-trump-documentary-brett-ratner-metoo/
...Which I guess made him an ideal candidate for the gig!

Finally, most apropos to this website, some fantasizing via TV's Frank:
https://cdn.prod.dailykos.com/images/1522703/large/MST3kMelania.png?1769809422

[Trevor]

I haven't seen anyone mention MELANIA yet, and that seems like an oversight given our purview...

https://cdn.prod.dailykos.com/images/1520122/large/20260122edshe-b.jpg?1769106308

As early as Friday morning, some very enthusiastic coverage was coming in regarding the errr underwhelming attendance in other countries. For example, the first scheduled screening in London had sold only 1 ticket. I dunno how that is for a Friday afternoon opening in 2026, but 25 years ago when I ran movie theaters it would have portented a rather... slow opening weekend. Similar stats were plentiful across Europe:
https://www.buzzfeed.com/mjs538/melania-movie-internationally

In Australia, something like 20 tickets were sold all weekend - yes, in the entire country. Apparently the film is being pulled from Australian theaters altogether.

More anecdotes:
https://www.dailykos.com/stories/2026/1/30/2366287/-Melania-doc-already-a-flop-overseas

Domestically and globally, the story of MELANIA's performance is a bit more... complex. Weekend grosses seem to be approximated at the $5-$7 million neighborhood. For a documentary, this is actually very very good!

However, keep in mind that the reported budget for MELANIA was $75 million dollars, though the actual cost is somewhere north of that. Amazon spent a reported $35 million on advertising and promo, on top of $40 million to Melania. Surely the actual production and post-production costs weren't zero... although sources who served on the crew have talked about 12-18 hour shoots with no catering  - yes, Amazon didn't bother to feed the poor b*****ds shooting their documentary - surely they paid director Brett Ratner, beloved auteur behind the RUSH HOUR canon.

So, Amazon is losing money on MELANIA, but some people are seeing it. How many people? The United States' dear President initially commented on social media about "tickets selling fast" and later boasted that MELANIA is "sold out everywhere". That later claim is easily defeated with light research. There have been reports of (large) half-filled theaters in places like Texas and Arkansas - so its legit possible that hundreds of people watched this movie together during its opening weekend.

However, there is also coverage about posts on Craigslist and elsewhere, offering $50 to anyone who would attend domestic screenings of MELANIA for free and endure through the closing credits...  it's worth mentioning that conservative organizations have been known to purchase large blocks of movie tickets and then give them away for free just to get audiences in seats and exposed to propaganda. Paying someone 4Xs an American movie ticket just to sit through a movie is rather more unheard of! And in any case, large-scale "underwriting" of tickets to conservative propaganda has certainly paid off in the past - THE SOUND OF FREEDOM grossed well over a hundred million or something, with occasionally similar reports of "sold out" theaters with a handful of audience members actually watching the movie. So in the case of MELANIA, a meager $5-7million gross is again intriguing. The conservative action orgs don't think there's anything persuasive or educational about this documentary??? 

Whatever one may a priori think about Melania or her husband, it is worth mentioning that MELANIA's director is a notorious sex pest/serial creepster:
https://www.motherjones.com/politics/2026/01/melania-trump-documentary-brett-ratner-metoo/
...Which I guess made him an ideal candidate for the gig!

Finally, most apropos to this website, some fantasizing via TV's Frank:
https://cdn.prod.dailykos.com/images/1522703/large/MST3kMelania.png?1769809422

Ster Kinekor, South Africa's oldest cinema chain pulled the release of MELANIA before it had even opened. Not sure what happened there 😬

[LilCerberus]

I heard a rumor that some theater in Arizona was printing out Utopia tickets instead of Melania tickets, but I can't find any info on that...