Amazon MGM Studios is reportedly spending $35 million to promote the theatrical release of its upcoming documentary on Melania Trump, despite early indications that few people are interested in the film or its subject.
Puck reported on Friday that Amazon has committed to the “insanely high” promotional budget, which comes in addition to the outsized $40 million that the company paid for the rights to the film.
The outlet noted that current tracking in advance of the movie’s Jan. 30 release projects a $5 million weekend at the box office. Puck reporter Matthew Belloni contrasted this with the much smaller promotional budget for the 2023 Taylor Swift documentary film “Taylor Swift: The Eras Tour,” which brought in more than $93 million during its opening weekend.
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Amazon has also purchased expensive ads for the movie that have aired during NFL broadcasts, hyped the film on the Las Vegas Sphere, and is advertising “Melania” on billboards. The documentary will have a glitzy premiere at the Kennedy Center (numerous artists have quit performing there thanks to President Donald Trump etching his name on the building) and Melania Trump is scheduled to ring the opening bell at the New York Stock Exchange on Wednesday.
Amazon is spending lavishly on the first lady’s vanity project while cutting jobs for American workers. According to Reuters, the company plans to lay off 30,000 corporate workers in a second round of firings following a purge of 14,000 employees in October 2025.
Company founder and executive chairman Jeff Bezos, who is one of the five wealthiest people in the world, is firmly on Team Trump. He donated a reported $1 million to Trump’s inauguration last year, around the same time Amazon made the commitment to distribute the film.
The payoffs echo other media kickbacks to Trump, including the decision by ABC News parent Disney to settle a lawsuit brought against it by Trump, along with CBS News parent Paramount, which also settled for millions.
Bezos has also spent the past few years molding The Washington Post, which he owns, into a MAGA safe space. The boot-licking billionaire has directed the editorial board to push a Republican-friendly agenda, leading to an exodus of multiple writers and contributors—but eliciting praise from Donald Trump.
Despite the massive expenditure on the movie, Amazon has downplayed a key member of the production: director Brett Rattner. Rattner’s previous projects include the film “Rush Hour,” although he has not been involved in a major Hollywood production since 2019.
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This is likely because in 2017 he faced alarming allegations of rape and sexual harassment by multiple actresses. Rattner has denied the allegations but Warner Bros. announced it was severing ties with him when the claims surfaced.
The stories sound very similar to Donald Trump’s history of sexual assault and harassment. That could be another reason that outside of Bezos, very few people are interested in a fluff film about the president’s wife.
Oliver Willis January 23, 2026 at 11:30PM From Daily Kos
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