Melania film earns $7m in US, strongest documentary debut in over a decade
Remarkably, Melania seems to have actually done some business after all, even better than predicted (remember, $5m was the most optimistic amount forecasters expected before it came out), and still little enough to be believable; if this were White House propaganda, Mushroom Cock would be calling it the best opening weekend for any film ever and we would all know it was a lie… but $7m feels honest and plausible. From the article:
A statement from the head of Amazon MGM Studios’ domestic theatrical distribution, Kevin Wilson, said the company was “very encouraged by the strong start and positive audience response” and reiterated the early box office results had exceeded expectations.
Referred to a planned follow-up documentary series about the first lady, Wilson’s statement also said: “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.”
Amazon says it operates on a different economic system to a traditional film studio, offsetting the costs of a theatrical release and promotion for distribution to 200 million subscribers to its Prime Video service.
Yeah, but 200 million people aren’t going to watch this shit, and $7m still isn’t that much better than the forecast $5m. If they were expecting a $50m opening weekend and got $70m instead, that would be rather more notable. This additional series alluded to above has been mentioned before but for some reason it’s not being hyped nearly as much as the film has been, and I somehow doubt this long-tail lifecycle for the film and the series will actually come about… the buzz around the “documentary” has been amusing, but I expect people will have lost interest within a few weeks at most.
The article also talks about Brett Ratner:
Ratner, the director – who had otherwise largely retreated from Hollywood after numerous sexual misconduct allegations during the #MeToo movement – was pointedly asked at the Melania premiere if he felt he was part of a larger quid pro quo.
“That’s ridiculous, but it’s OK, I’ll answer,” he said. “I can tell you right now, if we were audited and they said, ‘How much was spent on this movie?’ This movie is one of the most expensive movies – documentaries – in the genre ever made.”
“It wasn’t about getting rich. I mean, I think the Trumps are wealthy and successful enough. This is about giving me the ability to hire the best crew in the world, to not only score the film with the best composer … I mean, when you see the movie, you’ll go, ‘Oh, we see where the money went now.’ This wasn’t about corruption. Melania only cared about one thing – making a great movie for audiences.”
The question of why she didn’t pay for it herself if she cared so much about it was clearly left unasked or otherwise ignored.
