**MELANIA’S UPCOMING MOVIE ALREADY HUMILIATED — Pre-Release DISASTER Unfolds, Tickets Unsold and Critics ROASTING Before It Even Hits Theaters!**
The much-hyped documentary **Melania**, directed by Brett Ratner and backed by a staggering Amazon MGM Studios deal, was supposed to be First Lady Melania Trump’s triumphant return to the spotlight. Instead, the film has become one of the most embarrassing pre-release failures in recent Hollywood memory. With its official theatrical debut still weeks away in late January 2026, the project is already collapsing under the weight of empty theaters, brutal early reviews, zero advance ticket sales in multiple major markets, and a relentless wave of online mockery that has turned what was meant to be a glossy celebration into a full-scale public humiliation.
Reports from across the country paint a grim picture. In Jacksonville, Florida—one of the first cities to open advance ticket sales—a major theater chain confirmed that **not a single ticket** had been purchased for the opening-night screening as of mid-January. Similar stories quickly emerged from Los Angeles, Miami, Dallas, and Chicago. Industry trackers noted that pre-sales were “statistically indistinguishable from zero” in most major metropolitan areas. For a film that reportedly cost Amazon more than $75 million in licensing, production, and marketing combined, the silence at the box office is deafening. Critics who received early screeners did not hold back: one prominent reviewer called it “a 90-minute perfume commercial for gold-plated despair,” while another labeled it “the most unnecessary vanity project since the Fyre Festival documentary tried to spin disaster into art.”
The backlash has been swift, savage, and deeply personal. Late-night hosts have already begun tearing into the film. Jon Stewart devoted an entire segment to mocking Melania’s “unusual hat choices” and sarcastically praising the documentary as Jeff Bezos’s “expensive love letter to the Trumps in hopes of avoiding another tax audit.” Other comedians have turned the empty theaters into a running gag, with viral memes showing deserted auditoriums captioned “Melania’s audience watching her movie.” On social media, hashtags such as #MelaniaFlop, #EmptyTheaters, and #TrumpVanityProject have trended repeatedly, racking up tens of millions of views across X, TikTok, and Instagram. Even some conservative commentators have quietly distanced themselves, with a few prominent MAGA influencers noticeably avoiding any mention of the film on their platforms.
Behind the scenes, the production has reportedly been chaotic from the start. Brett Ratner, making a controversial return to directing after years of sexual misconduct allegations (which he has denied), allegedly lived on-site at Mar-a-Lago during principal photography. Crew members have spoken anonymously about difficult working conditions, last-minute script changes, and a pervasive atmosphere of fear that the final cut would not match the Trumps’ expectations. Insiders claim that significant portions of the footage were re-shot or heavily edited after initial screenings for White House staff and close allies reportedly described the early versions as “too soft” and lacking “presidential gravitas.” The final product—polished to a high gloss with sweeping drone shots, slow-motion walks down marble corridors, and tender family moments—has been criticized as overly curated, lacking any real insight or vulnerability.
Melania herself has remained largely silent on the mounting criticism, though her official social-media accounts have continued to post carefully staged promotional images: her in elegant inauguration outfits, soft-focus shots of White House flowers, and quotes emphasizing “strength, grace, and patriotism.” Donald Trump, however, has been far more vocal. In a series of Truth Social posts, he called the early reviews “fake news” and “another witch hunt,” insisting that “people are buying tickets FAST” and that “the haters are just jealous of Melania’s incredible beauty and class.” Yet box-office data and theater reports directly contradict those claims, fueling accusations that the former president is once again trying to spin reality to fit his narrative.
The timing of the debacle could not be worse for the Trump brand. Coming just months after Melania’s carefully managed return to public life and amid ongoing legal and political turbulence surrounding her husband’s second term, the film was intended to humanize and elevate her image as a poised, elegant First Lady. Instead, it has become a lightning rod for critics who see it as emblematic of everything they despise about the Trump era: excess, vanity, and an inability to read the room. Even some longtime supporters have privately expressed disappointment, with one anonymous Republican strategist telling reporters, “We needed gravitas. We got a fashion montage.”
As the release date approaches, the pressure is mounting. Amazon MGM Studios has quietly increased its promotional spending, flooding social media with trailers and behind-the-scenes clips in a last-ditch effort to generate interest. Yet early indicators suggest the strategy may be backfiring—each new ad only seems to fuel more ridicule. Industry observers predict the film could become one of the lowest-grossing major documentaries in recent years, potentially ending up as a streaming footnote rather than a theatrical event.
The internet can’t stop talking about this unfolding Hollywood-political train wreck. From brutal review roundups to viral videos of empty auditoriums to late-night monologues already roasting the project, the humiliation is spreading faster than any marketing team could hope to contain. Whether the film can somehow rebound through streaming numbers or whether it becomes a permanent punchline in Trump-era lore remains to be seen—but for now, **Melania** has achieved something truly rare: it has failed spectacularly before most people have even had the chance to see it.
