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Melania Trump’s ‘$75 million’ documentary sells just one ticket for London premiere

This lacklustre response has come despite the Melania Trump documentary receiving clearance from the British Board of Film Classification and being promoted extensively in the United States.

2 min readNew DelhiJan 29, 2026 06:32 PM IST

The documentary was screened at the White House on Saturday and is scheduled for an official premiere at Washington’s Kennedy Center

Amazon’s authorised documentary on US President Donald Trump’s wife Melania Trump has had a muted start in UK cinemas, despite the company backing it as a potential box-office hit and investing heavily in its release.

The film, acquired by Amazon MGM Studios for a reported $40 million, a deal said to include a substantial payment to Melania Trump herself, has also been supported by a global marketing campaign costing around $35 million. Much of that promotional push has focused on the US, with television advertising, large-scale billboards and even a high-profile takeover of Las Vegas’s immersive venue, The Sphere. The documentary focuses on the 20-day period leading up to Trump’s return to power in January 2025.

Yet early ticket sales in Britain have told a very different story. According to The Guardian, ahead of its London premiere on Friday, only one ticket had been sold for a mid-afternoon screening at an Islington cinema, while just two were purchased for an evening show at the same location. Major chains fared no better, with Vue cinemas across London reportedly recording zero advance bookings for all scheduled screenings.

This lacklustre response has come despite the documentary receiving clearance from the British Board of Film Classification and being promoted extensively in the United States.

Vue CEO Tim Richards addressed the situation in an interview with The Telegraph, confirming that the chain had faced backlash for choosing to screen the film. However, he defended the decision, arguing that cinemas should not position themselves as arbiters of culture.

“I have told everyone that, regardless of how we feel about the movie, if it is BBFC approved, we look at them and 99% of the time we will show it,” Richards said, adding that he had received a large volume of emails criticising Vue’s programming choice.

The documentary was screened at the White House on Saturday and is scheduled for an official premiere at Washington’s Kennedy Center, renamed the Trump-Kennedy Center by the president in a move that remains legally contested, ahead of its rollout in 27 countries.