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This Presidents’ Day, consider celebrating by watching a film that shines the spotlight on the First Lady.
Melania Trump took the opportunity of the federal holiday, which traditionally honors the birthday of President George Washington, to highlight her documentary that continues to screen in theaters.
“Don’t miss your chance to see ‘MELANIA’ in theaters before its run ends,” she announced on her personal social media platforms. “Experience the immersive visuals and sound on the big screen today.”
In addition to promoting her film, she extended Presidents’ Day greetings to the nation, sharing a photograph of herself alongside President Donald Trump. The image was taken during the film’s premiere at the White House, held in late January.
The photo captures the couple standing in front of the documentary’s promotional signage in the Cross Hall of the White House.
Following the White House event, the Trumps attended another premiere at the Trump Kennedy Center, which has recently been subject to controversy. The center’s renaming and President Trump’s unexpected decision to close it for two years of extensive renovations, following numerous event cancellations, have sparked debate.
The First Lady has taken some flak for hawking the film as part of her official White House duties.
During a meeting earlier this month with American-Israeli hostage Keith Siegel and his wife Aviva, she took a moment to plug the film, which featured a scene where she met with Aviva, pushing for her husband’s release.
First Lady Melania Trump was promoting her documentary, Melania, on her personal accounts on the Presidents’ Day holiday, noting how it had the highest opening for a documentary and that the Wall Street Journal called it a ‘hit’
First Lady Melania Trump wished Americans a Happy Presidents’ Day and then shared a photo of herself and President Donald Trump at the White House premiere of Melania, the first of two D.C.-based premieres for the documentary film
A CNN reporter then asked the First Lady if it was appropriate to hawk the film, a commercial endeavor where she’s set to bank $28 million.
‘It is nothing to do with promotion,’ the First Lady insisted.
The film takes place over 20 days leading up to the President’s second inauguration.
Amazon paid approximately $40 million for the rights to the film, which has garnered Amazon founder Jeff Bezos criticism amid the recent major layoffs at the Bezos-owned newspaper, the Washington Post.
The documentary had a strong start at the box office, making around $7 million during the opening weekend, the best for a non-concert documentary since 2012.
Since then, ticket sales have dropped.
This past weekend, it slid to 15th place among new releases, making under $1 million.
So far, the documentary has made around $15.4 million in total, with the Daily Beast reporting that Amazon MGM executives believe that when it hits Amazon’s streaming service, some of the money will be recouped.
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President Donald Trump (left) and First Lady Melania Trump (right) attended a second Melania movie premiere at the newly renamed Trump Kennedy Center in late January, the night before the movie debuted in theaters
First Lady Melania Trump (center) was asked by a reporter if it was appropriate to be promoting the Melania film during a meeting with Israeli-American hostage Keith Siegel (left) and his wife Aviva Siegel (right) earlier this month
First Lady Melania Trump accompanied her husband on Friday to North Carolina’s Fort Bragg and then was captured in social media posts celebrating Valentine’s Day with him at the Mar-a-Lago club
A streaming date has yet to be announced.
Director Brett Ratner, who largely hasn’t worked in Hollywood since a 2017 #MeToo scandal, told the Daily Mail last month in an exclusive interview that the film was meant to be seen on the big screen.
‘It’s big movie stuff. That’s what I’m trying to say. It’s for the big screen. I urge everybody to go see it in the theater, that’s what it was made for,’ he said.
‘Yes, you can go watch it on TV later, if you don’t want to go to the theater, but the truth is, for me as a filmmaker, that would be the ultimate way to watch this film,’ Ratner added.
Melania Trump was spotted spending Valentine’s Day weekend with the President at Mar-a-Lago, according to social media posts from the Palm Beach, Florida, club.
She arrived with the President on Friday after a visit to North Carolina’s Fort Bragg.
He’s expected to return to Washington Monday night after the Presidents’ Day holiday.