Read ‘em and weep, Hollywood anti-Trumpers. Over the course of a single weekend, Melania pulled in roughly $7 million during its three-day debut — a total that already surpasses the full domestic box office runs of five Academy Award–nominated films from 2025, including two contenders for Best Picture.
The contrast between Melania and the Hollywood’s Academy Award choices is striking. All five of those Oscar-nominated movies benefited from overwhelmingly positive reviews across the entertainment press, widespread free media exposure, and the added prestige and promotional boost that come with awards-season recognition. Each of them is a traditional feature-length narrative film, while Melania is a documentary.
Unlike those titles, none of the five faced sustained negative press, let alone what supporters describe as a coordinated, multi-billion-dollar media effort aimed at discouraging audiences from seeing the film. Despite weeks of intense criticism from across the media landscape, Melania still delivered the strongest opening for a documentary in a decade, reports Breitbart News.
The film’s performance is even more notable given that audiences were fully aware it would soon be available to stream on Amazon Prime, notes Breitbart. In just one weekend, Melania also exceeded the total domestic box office earnings of Jennifer Lawrence’s most recent release, a recent Stephen King adaptation, and the latest film from a Coen brother.
Here are the competition comparisons of five 2025 movies nominated:
• Sentimental Value: $4.57 million — Eight Oscar nominations for Picture, Director, Actress, Supporting Actor, Original Screenplay, Foreign Film, and Editing.
• The Secret Agent: $3.25 million — Four Oscar nominations for Best Picture, Actor, Casting, and Foreign Film.
• If I Had Legs I’d Kick You: $1.09 million — Best Actress.
• Blue Moon: $2.11 million — Best Actor, Original Screenplay.
• It Was Just an Accident: $1.78 million — Original Screenplay, Foreign Film.