Hollywood critics gave it a 10%.
Real Americans gave it 99%.
And now Amazon just greenlit a docuseries on a film those same critics called a disaster.
Amazon Lost Millions on Melania and Greenlit a Docuseries Anyway
The original Melania documentary cost Amazon $75 million – $40 million to acquire and $35 million to market.
It grossed $16.6 million worldwide.
That's not a loss.
That's a disaster.
But Marc Beckman, Melania Trump's senior adviser, announced Tuesday that Amazon Prime is coming back for more.
A docuseries is dropping this fall – exclusively on Prime Video.
https://twitter.com/highbrow_nobrow/status/2084836953552245140?s=20
"This fall, we are following the film with a docuseries surrounding the first lady, surrounding Melania Trump," Beckman told Real America's Voice host Eric Bolling. "It's a completely different look at her world."
The new series won't replay inauguration footage.
It goes deeper – into Melania's marriage, her family, her philanthropy, and the early days of Trump's second term.
"We open the window, a little bit, into her private life, her marriage, her family," Beckman explained. "I hope everybody tunes in because it's gonna show a part of the first lady that hasn't been seen yet."
The Critics Hated It. The Audience Loved It. Amazon Knows the Difference.
The Melania documentary set two records simultaneously – a 10% Rotten Tomatoes score from critics and a 99% score from verified ticket buyers.
"The expensive propaganda doc is glossily shot and lushly scored, although for some reason Ratner keeps inserting segments shot on what looks like Super 8 film, as if to infuse the Trumps with some of that Kennedy-era aura," Hollywood Reporter critic Frank Schek wrote.
Rotten Tomatoes confirmed it was the biggest critic-versus-audience split in the site's 27-year history.
Jeff Bezos defended the project directly, calling it "a wise business decision" in a CNBC interview – even as critics sneered and Democrats in Congress demanded an investigation.
"You know that it did very well in theaters. It's done very well on streaming. People are very curious about Melania, so even though I had nothing to do with it, you know, it appears that the Amazon team made a very wise business decision," Bezos said.
https://twitter.com/highbrow_nobrow/status/2084988321927770576?s=20
As for accusations that he did it to gain favor with Donald Trump, Bezos denied the allegation and described the President as “a more mature, more disciplined version of himself.”
The Melania documentary also broke the record for the biggest opening weekend for a non-fiction film in a decade.
Trump's 2025 financial disclosure confirmed he received a $10.71 million licensing fee for the documentary – completely transparent, completely legal, and exactly the kind of business deal that happens every day in Hollywood.
The same disclosure revealed $16 million from ABC settling Trump's defamation lawsuit, $16 million from CBS settling over the deceptively edited 60 Minutes interview, and $24.5 million from Meta for censorship.
The media is furious about the Melania deal specifically because it worked.
This Is What Happens When You Actually Serve Your Audience
The critics who gave Melania a 10% Tomatometer score are the same people who dismissed real American audiences for decades.
Those audiences walked into theaters, gave it an A on CinemaScore, and drove it to the biggest documentary opening weekend in ten years.
https://twitter.com/AllTimeEnt/status/2085001889553297651?s=20
Amazon noticed.
The docuseries this fall isn't charity.
It's business.
When the audience Hollywood has ignored for decades votes with its wallet – studios follow the money.
The critics can write their snarky reviews.
The rest of America will watch.
Sources:
- Kathryn Wilkens, "Amazon Is Reportedly Doubling Down on Melania Trump With a New Docuseries," Mediaite, August 4, 2026.
- "Amazon Sets Melania Trump Docuseries for Fall on Prime Video," Newsmax, August 4, 2026.
- "New Melania Trump Show Launching After Amazon's Big Movie Losses," Newsweek, August 5, 2026.
- "Trumps Received $10.7 Million Fee for Amazon 'Melania' Documentary," Variety, July 2026.
- "'Melania' Loses Money in Theaters, But Box Office Was Never the Point," Variety, February 11, 2026.
- "Melania Documentary Sets Record for Largest-Ever Gap Between Critics' Scores and Audience Ratings," The Independent, February 2026.