Melania Trump’s film project is premiering on January 30. Donald Trump described it as a “must-watch,” but as the film is about to be released, ticket sales paint a whole different picture. The sales have been underwhelming – and now the First Lady is being mocked online.

Just weeks before Donald Trump’s Presidential Inauguration a year ago, Melania Trump revealed her latest big project. A documentary film, titled Melania was to be produced. Amazon reportedly paid Melania’s production company around $40 million for the license.

“So I had an idea to make a movie, to make a film about my life. My life is incredible. It’s incredibly busy, and I told my agent I have this idea so please go out and make a deal for me. We started the production in November and we are shooting right now. So it’s a day-to-day life. What I’m doing, what kind of responsibilities I have, people they don’t really know and they will see it,” Melania told Fox at the time.

The documentary was initially scheduled for release in the fourth quarter of 2025, but was moved up. Beginning on January 30, cinemas across the US will screen Melania.

It’s been highly anticipated among many, of course, mostly those who support Donald Trump. The president took to social media a few days ago to promote his wife’s new film.

“MELANIA, the Movie, is a MUST WATCH,” Trump wrote on X. “Get your tickets today – Selling out, FAST!”

Republican clubs ‘forced’ to buy tickets to the Melania Trump documentary as sales struggle
But the ‘selling out fast’ bit doesn’t seem to be true. Interest in Melania Trump’s documentary is low, as ticket sales have been struggling.

Social media users have shared pictures of screening layouts in different cities, revealing that many movie theaters haven’t sold a single ticket to the documentary.

Not a single ticket sold for the opening night 9:55pm showing of Melania at the busiest movie theater in the metro-Jacksonville area. pic.twitter.com/NZz7T7PkwS

— Travis Akers 🇺🇸 (@travisakers) January 27, 2026

Now, the story has taken a different turn. While sales are projected to be way lower than expected, the film could end up making a huge loss. Journalist Rob Shuter claims the damp ticket sales have forced Republican clubs across several conservative-leaning areas to quietly buy out screenings in order to save Melania’s documentary.

“This isn’t organic demand,” one insider told Rob Shuter’s Substack. “It’s about optics. Empty theaters look terrible.”

Sources tell the journalist that clubs are buying out large blocks of seats, or even sometimes entire showings. In some cases, tickets are even offered for free or at a “steep” discount on GOP-affiliated websites.

Still, that does not do the trick either.

“They’re struggling to give the tickets away,” another source told Shuter. “Some screenings barely sell unless the party steps in.”

One more insider said, “It feels less like a movie night and more like a loyalty check.”

What do cinemas do if not a single person buys tickets to a screening
So what do cinemas do when no one is buying tickets for a particular screening? The question has been brought up on the online forum Reddit, where one user asked, “If no one buys a ticket to a movie, do they still run it or just call it off?”

One user replied, “When I worked at a theater they would play any movie that was on in the middle of the day but if it was the end of the night they’d let it go 15 minutes then shut er down. They would sometimes turn the lamp off on the projector to save teh bulb until someoen called up to the projectionist that the show was going on.”

A second added, “i worked at a cinema and what they did was start the movie and let it play for twenty minutes, so if anyone showed up to buy last-minute tickets they would still be able to see it. if no one came, they shut it off. on a related note, those were my favorite auditoriums to clean.”

Melania Trump says documentary is “historic moment”
Even though the sales are slow, Melania appears not be affected by it. On January 25, after an in-house screening at the White House, she took to X, writing, “MELANIA, the film A Historic Moment… I am deeply humbled to have been surrounded by an inspiring room of friends, family, and cultural iconoclasts at the White House last night.”

The First Lady added, “Each of these individuals each brought their unique vision to the world, making a lasting impression. Our personal stories endure time and serve as a reminder of our mutual obligation to one another. It was an honor to present my new film, MELANIA, ahead of its global launch.”

Time will tell whether ticket sales for Melania’s documentary take off.

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