“Hollywood farce”: Melania Trump's documentary panned before hitting theatres
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Amazon's multi-million documentary about U.S. First Lady Melania Trump is already being panned ahead of its official theatrical release.
‘Melania’ documents her life in the 20 days before her husband’s 2025 inauguration.
As Global’s Heidi Petracek reports, critics say 'Melania' only exists as a vehicle for one of the world's biggest companies to curry favour with President Donald Trump.
Here we go again.
So far, reaction to the First Lady's first documentary
isn't exactly what you'd put on a movie marquee.
Because this literally is something you can't make up.
This is a Hollywood farce.
She may have rung the bell at the New York Stock Exchange
to herald the movie's arrival in theatres Friday,
but before it's even hit screens,
the film's been getting review bombed on movie site Letterboxd.
Did I watch this? No.
Do I need to? Also no, writes one commentator.
If they showed this on a plane, people would still walk out, writes another.
The timing couldn't be worse.
On the very day ICE agents killed nurse Alex Pretty,
the White House went ahead with its preview of Melania for special guests that night.
I've seen pieces of it. It's incredible, I tell you.
Melania's director is also controversial, Brett Ratner,
banished by Hollywood after accusations of sexual misconduct in 2017.
Then there's the flick's financial backing.
Amazon shelling out $40 million U.S. for worldwide rights
and spending another $35 million to market it.
A plotline ripe for criticism.
Jeff Bezos and Amazon had a fractious relationship with Trump that's well documented.
All of a sudden the billionaires show up on inauguration day,
literally show up, sit behind him and money starts to change hands.
American late night talk show hosts adding that to their scripts.
Amazon bribed a whopping $40 million for the movie.
Are you really trying to tell us that this dumb vanity project slash corporate bribe
is a work of art?
The documentary will be shown at a lavish event at the Kennedy Center Thursday night,
then opens on 1,500 screens in the U.S. and Canada.
I don't think anybody's going to go to the theatres to see it.
It takes a lot to get people to go out to the movies, period,
and I don't think this is the big draw.
Friday's opening night, the true test of whether moviegoers will show up to see it
or simply wait until it goes streaming.
Heidi Petrochek, Global News, Halifax.