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By Mandy Taheri
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The upcoming film Melania, which follows first lady Melania Trump in the lead-up to President Donald Trump’s 2025 inauguration, may be a surprising success at the box office on its opening weekend, according to the Puck, citing National Research Group (NRG) forecasting data.
Newsweek has reached out to NRG for its forecast data via email on Friday, however, it's only available to clients.
Why It Matters
The 104-minute film will hit the United States and some global theaters on January 30. Fox News reported it will be screened across North America, South America, Asia, Europe, Israel, the United Arab Emirates and more. The team has said it will be available in about 30 countries.
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Melania described it to Fox News as a “private, unfiltered look as I navigate family, business, and philanthropy on my remarkable journey to becoming First Lady of the United States of America.”
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What To Know
The film will first premiere at the Kennedy Center, which is undergoing legal battles over its amended name to include President Trump's, on January 29. Page Six reported that the film will premiere simultaneously across 20 theaters on Thursday, including some in Los Angeles, San Francisco, and New York City.
Puck reported that NRG expects the movie to gross around $5 million in the U.S. and Canada on opening weekend, with screenings in about 1,400 theaters. That number pales in comparison to what Amazon MGM Studios paid for it, around $40 million. However, Puck reporter Matthew Belloni writes in his article that “multiple sources told me that the overall numbers have ticked up this week, closer to the presales for Reagan.”
The estimated $5 million on opening weekend is more than double how The Apprentice, an independent biographical drama of her husband’s story that opened in 2024, with estimates around $1.6 million opening weekend, for a total $5 million gross. Belloni also noted that $5 million isn't bad for "a documentary in this theatrical climate."
The film is set to launch only in movie theaters, with Marc Beckman, a producer on the film and Melania’s exclusive senior advisor, telling Page Six, “Melania Trump wanted the film to be cinematic in nature. It’s launching only in movie theaters…we want that rich, highly-stylized cinematic experience.”
An advertisement for the film already went up on the Las Vegas Sphere earlier this week. Trump on Friday used his Truth Social platform to promote the film, writing, "COUNTDOWN: 7 Days until the World will witness an unforgettable, behind-the-scenes, look at one of the most important events of our time."
What People Are Saying
President Donald Trump said earlier in January about the film: "I’ve seen pieces of it. It’s incredible…. It’s going to be doing the premier at The Trump Kennedy Center. It’s a very hard ticket. Everybody, Wayne Gretzky and his wife, beautiful wife. everybody wants tickets."
Marc Beckman, a producer on the film and Melania’s exclusive senior adviser, told Page Six: “She’s [Melania] involved in every single piece of it. Every single TV commercial, every billboard, as a campaign across 30 different nations.”
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