Sunday, February 22, 2026

Exclusive: “Melania” Pulled from Most Theaters, Studio Stops Reporting Box Office, As Empty Venues Give it the Boot

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“Melania” is gone.

Initially there was a report that MGM/Amazon was dropping 600 theaters on top of the 700 that lost the film the week before.

But the studio stopped reporting box office on Saturday. And now, a check for theaters shows “Melania” is out of all the major cities and just playing in a few suburban locations. It’s not playing in New York or Los Angeles.

Maybe just to fool the real Melania and save face, the movie is still playing in Palm Beach Gardens, Florida. There are also a couple of once a day showings left in Miami.

In other words, the party is over for Brett Ratner’s infomercial. Whatever numbers were faked, even that’s done.

On Thursday, the last day of general release, “Melania” made $70,000 or $59 per theater. That brought the grand total to $15.9 million. Amazon spent $75 million on the boondoggle, and it’s all evaporated. But Jeff Bezos doesn’t care. He paid the Trumps $40 million, and got what he wanted for future business deals.

Next, “Melania” goes to Amazon Prime, where you can pay 20 bucks to see it starting soon. But wouldn’t you like eggs or milk or meat instead?

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Roger Friedman
Roger Friedmanhttps://www.showbiz411.com
Roger Friedman began his Showbiz411 column in April 2009 after 10 years with Fox News, where he created the Fox411 column. His movie reviews are carried by Rotten Tomatoes, and he is a member of both the movie and TV branches of the Critics Choice Awards. His articles have appeared in dozens of publications over the years including New York Magazine, where he wrote the Intelligencer column in the mid 90s and covered the OJ Simpson trial, and Fox News (when it wasn't so crazy) where he covered Michael Jackson. He is also the writer and co-producer of "Only the Strong Survive," a selection of the Cannes, Sundance, and Telluride Film festivals, directed by DA Pennebaker and Chris Hegedus.

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