Only one ticket has been sold for the premiere of the Melania Trump documentary at Vue's flagship Islington branch in London, as advance sales across the UK remain 'soft', according to Vue chief executive Tim Richards. The film, authorised by Amazon, is screening in over 100 UK cinemas but has struggled to attract audiences, with all seats available for 28 screenings at branches in Blackburn, Castleford and Hamilton.
Richards told the Telegraph he had received numerous emails criticising Vue's decision to screen the film, but defended the choice, stating: 'We do not play judge and jury to censor movies.' At the Cineworld in Wandsworth, four tickets had been sold, while five backrow seats were booked in Broughton.
Industry analysts suspect the strategy behind the wide release may be 'four-walling', where distributors pay a set fee to cinemas to screen a film, rather than the usual revenue-sharing model. One anonymous analyst told the Guardian: 'I'd be amazed if box office gets reported on this title.'
Amazon MGM Studios bought the rights to the film for $40m (£30m) and is spending $35m on global marketing, mostly in the US. The documentary covers the 20 days before Donald Trump's return to power in January 2025 and was screened at the White House on Saturday, with its official premiere at Washington's Kennedy Center on Thursday.
Boxoffice Pro estimated a US opening weekend of $1m-$2m, while the National Research Group projected $5m. In comparison, the most successful documentary in US history, Fahrenheit 9/11, made $24m in its first weekend. UK projections remain uncertain, but the per-screen average is expected to be low given the film's enormous rollout.
