Friday is general release of the documentary Melaniea film about That of President Donald Trump third wife and first lady of the United States. A WIRED analysis shows there are still plenty of seats available, unless you live near the AMC Classic Indian River 24 in Vero Beach, Florida. Or the AMC Independence Commons 20 in Independence, Missouri.
Melanie was produced by Amazon MGM Studios and directed by Brett Ratner, well known for his Rush hour series (of which another sequel is currently in production at the request of Trump) and to be accused of sexual misconduct by six different women. Ratner, who previously denied allegations of sexual misconduct, did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
The trailer for Melanie appears to largely feature the first lady walking around various large rooms in sunglasses. There are many close-ups of her feet in high heels: carpet, wooden floor, sidewalk, stairs, etc. His iconic boater hat, the one that hides his eyes, also makes an appearance.
Trump and the production studio behind Melanie spent heavily to promote the release of the film. The documentary would have cost Amazon $40 million for the rights and another $35 million in marketing. The White House hosted a special screening for a group of CEOs, including Apple’s Tim Cook and AMD’s Lisa Su. And Trump touted the film on his social media platform, Truth Social, saying, “Buy your tickets today – sell them FAST!”
Although US box office performance has generally been in decline for several years, MelanieTicket sales attracted particular interest.
In the United Kingdom, The Guardian reported that on Monday, only one ticket had been sold for the first screening at 3:10 p.m. at the flagship London site of Vue, a large cinema chain. (That number has since risen to 13, according to a WIRED study of available seats.) Elsewhere online, commenters posted screenshots of empty room plans for various theaters.
Amazon MGM Studios did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
Although it seems relatively easy to find an empty projection of MelanieWIRED reporters took it a step further and identified two U.S. screenings — out of nearly 1,400 we reviewed — that were sold out as of Friday.
To conduct our analysis, WIRED examined listings for 329 movie theaters located near 64 of the 100 U.S. cities featured in a “Best American Cities to See a Movie” Ranking list created by BetMGM, which has no affiliation with Amazon MGM Studios. (Due to technical issues, WIRED was unable to conduct a full review of BetMGM’s top 100 cities to see a movie prior to publication.) From there, WIRED identified 1,398 Melanie Showtimes are listed for these theaters on Fandango, a ticket purchasing website. Of these screenings, only two were sold out: the 12:55 p.m. screening at AMC CLASSIC Indian River 24 in Vero Beach and the 1 p.m. screening at AMC Independence Commons 20 in Missouri. On AMC’s website, it appears that both showings were offered at a 20% discount, which is the standard for showings before 4 p.m.
At one point Thursday afternoon, a third screening at another Florida theater was apparently sold out, but when WIRED double-checked the listing, it appeared that two front-row seats had become available.
During WIRED’s review, showtimes Melanie at the Mann Plymouth Grand 15 Theater in Minnesota appears to have been canceled. The theater is located in Hennepin County, Minnesota, where two observers were killed in the middle of a massive incursion of federal immigration agents. Representatives for the Mann Plymouth Grand 15 did not respond to a request for comment.
Certainly, there could be more sold-out screenings in the United States. WIRED only reviewed a portion of the listings on Fandango, and it’s possible that not all movie theaters sell tickets through that website. It’s also possible that not all theaters offer advanced seat selection. And of course, tickets can be purchased for the screenings up until their presentation.
For example, as of Thursday afternoon, it appears no tickets have been sold for the 10:15 p.m. screening at AMC Port Chester in Connecticut. It is a 276-seat theater; make your choice.
