Friday is the day standard release of the documentary Melaniaa film about the third wife of President Donald Trump and the first lady of the United States. 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 AMC Independence Commons 20 in Independence, Missouri.
Melania it was produced by Amazon MGM Studios and directed by Brett Ratner, who is best known for both rush hour series (another sequel is currently being produced at Trump’s request) and allegations of sexual misconduct by six different women. Ratner, who has previously denied sex allegations, did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
The trailer for Melania it is mostly seen featuring the first lady walking around various large rooms in sunglasses. There are many places close to where her high heeled feet walk: carpets, hardwood floors, pavement, stairs, and so on. His iconic boater hat—the one that hides his eyes—also makes an appearance.
Both Trump and the production studio behind it Melania they spent a lot of money on developing the film’s release. The documentary reportedly cost Amazon $40 million in rights, and another $35 million in advertising. The White House hosted its special screening of a group of CEOs, including Apple’s Tim Cook and AMD’s Lisa Su. And Trump talked about the film on his social media site, Truth Social, saying, “Get your tickets today – Selling out, FAST!”
Although US box office performance has generally declined over the past few years, MelaniaTicket sales have been of particular interest.
In the UK, The Guardian reported that as of Monday, one ticket had been sold for the first screening at 3:10 pm at London’s flagship Vue, a major cinema chain. (That number has since jumped to 13, according to a WIRED review of available seats.) Elsewhere on the Internet, commentators posted screenshots of empty seating charts at various theaters.
Amazon MGM Studios did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
Although it seems easy to find a blank test of MelaniaWIRED reporters took it a step further and identified two screenings in the United States—of the nearly 1,400 we reviewed—that were sold out on Friday.
To conduct our analysis, WIRED reviewed listings of 329 movie theaters near 64 of the 100 US cities ranked in the “Best US Cities to See a Movie” ranking created by BetMGM, which is not affiliated with Amazon MGM Studios. (Due to technical issues, WIRED was unable to complete a full review of all of BetMGM’s top 100 cities to see a movie before publication.) From there, WIRED identified 1,398 Melania showtimes are listed for those theaters on Fandango, the ticketing website. Of those tests, only two were sold out: at 12:55 pm at Vero Beach’s AMC CLASSIC Indian River 24 and at 1 pm at AMC Independence Commons 20 in Missouri. On AMC’s website, it appears that both shows are offered at a 20 percent discount, which averages show times before 4 p.m.
At one point Thursday afternoon the third show at a Florida theater appeared to be sold out, but when WIRED checked the listing again, it appeared that the front two seats were now available.
During WIRED’s review, show times of Melania at the Mann Plymouth Grand 15 theater in Minnesota appears to have been canceled. The theater is in Hennepin County, Minnesota, where two spectators were killed during a massive raid by federal immigration agents. Representatives for Mann Plymouth Grand 15 did not respond to a request for comment.
To be sure, there may be additional sold-out shows across the US. WIRED only reviewed part of the list on Fandango, and it’s possible that not all movies sell tickets through that website. It is also possible that not all theaters offer advanced ticket seating options. And of course, tickets can be purchased to test until the show.
For example, as of Thursday afternoon, it appears that no tickets have been sold for the 10:15 pm showing at AMC Port Chester in Connecticut. It is a 276-seat theater; take your pick.
