Melania documentary struggles in UK cinemas as Vue admits sales are 'soft'

[erronis]

Last edited Mon Jan 26, 2026, 04:06 PM - Edit history (1)

https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2026/jan/26/melania-trump-documentary-uk-cinemas-vue-soft-sales

Only one ticket sold for premiere of film about US first lady at Vue's flagship London branch as insiders question launch strategy

UK ticket sales for Melania are so far "soft", according to Tim Richards, the chief executive of Vue, one of the country's biggest cinema operators. Just one ticket has been sold for the first 3.10pm screening on Friday at its flagship Islington branch in London, while two have been booked for 6pm.

At the time of publication, all seats remained available for the 28 screenings of Melania at the Blackburn, Castleford and Hamilton branches.

[Vinca]

1. Should have thrown in some X-rated photos. Maybe they'd get the jerking off crowd.

[leftstreet]

2. Wait. There's no pole in this film?

Well there's your problem right there, filmmaker person

[newdeal2]

4. That was my exact thought

One or two people attending…sounds like an old porno theater.

[MustLoveBeagles]

3. I think the Razzie's will have fun with this

[Americanme]

5. Nobody wants to see that trash.

Brett "Epstein Files" Ratner is trying to make trump's 3rd lady look like an all-American success, but she looks to me like a soviet gold-digger skank. trump is trying to give another Epstein buddy his career back, with the Melaria flick and Rush Hour revival. I ain't watching either of them, on principle.

[tanyev]

6. I'm sure she demanded her payment up front, so she doesn't really care.

[maxsolomon]

7. Why bother with any overseas release?

Amazon's just throwing money out the window to please MFer.

It will be on Prime before March. Hate-Watch it then.

[samsingh]

8. soft? stupid underplaying how bad it is

[Emile]

9. Who's stupid idea was it to make this film?

[erronis]

10. Dunno, and really don't care. Obviously someone with mush-for-brains close to trump.

Or the stable genius, itself.

[muriel_volestrangler]

12. It's a way of bribing Trump without having to have him start a worthless lawsuit and then cave

Melania's getting many millions for this. I read about the film, and still can't see why anyone would want to sit through it - even MAGA (hence the abysmal advance sales in the US too). It's not a "life of Melania"; it just followed her around in the time between the election and the inauguration. When she did absolutely nothing notable.

I am surprised anyone bothered scheduling it in another country. The complete lack of interest was inevitable. Amazon seems to want to have "numbers of screens" figures, despite having to pay for it - from the OP article:

One industry analyst told the Guardian they suspected the underlying strategy was “four-walling”, meaning distributors pay a set fee to each cinema if they agree to play a certain title.

This would explain why so many exhibitors – which usually adopt a revenue-sharing model with distributors – have agreed to take on a movie with such modest financial prospects at a time when award-nominated films are vying for screen time.

[Marie Marie]

11. These horrible people keep putting themselves out there, expecting applause and praise from the

masses they care little about and when the response is either silence or boos - they seem so shocked. Why doesn't the world see them as the magnificent people they are? Must be that derangement thing.

Oh and, 1 ticket for 3:10 and 2 for 6pm?

[UTUSN]

13. K&R

[democratsruletheday]

14. Melanoma, the mail order bride....

riveting stuff. Do they provide the few clowns who wanna see this with vomit bags?