An entertainment expert dismissed the multi-billion-dollar Melania Trump documentary as a "farce" hours ahead of its release.
President Donald Trump joined the first lady Thursday evening at the rebranded Trump Kennedy Center for the Amazon MGM Studios film's premier, but journalist Segun Oduolowu told "CNN This Morning" that early indications suggest "Melania" could be a commercial and critical flop.
"The money is what you have to follow," he said. "Pocketing $27 million for a documentary is unheard of here in Hollywood. It was bought for $40 million, also a record number. Usually documentaries sell for $250,000 to $750,000. Big-budget screen scripts sometimes go for as high as $5 million."
While most documentaries don't have such a high-profile subject, Oduolowu agreed, the first lady's position makes the amount Amazon MGM paid suspect.
"The word you use is correct, unusual, and it screams payoff because Jeff Bezos and Amazon paid $40 million for this, $35 million was spent in advertising for a movie projected to bring back $1 [million] to $2 million in its opening week," Oduolowu said. "No one in Hollywood does that kind of math."
Social media users have been posting evidence that few tickets have been sold online, and Oduolowu said he expected a brutal reception from audiences and critics.
"Well, it's not going to make money," he said, but then added a caveat. "Well, it's already made money. It made money for the people that are involved. It made money for Melania $27 million or $28 million. She's walking away very happy. But no, it won't generate money at the box office, and I don't think it was ever intended to."
"It's going to stream on Amazon, where the propaganda machine can keep it going, because when we think about the premise of this, it's she's not in the White House," Oduolowu said. "It's the lead-up to going back to the White House, and even Amazon sells it as her moving her family back into the White House. What family? Barron Trump is a sophomore in college. He's not even moving back to the White House. So it's just Melania and Donald. That is the big reveal that they're going back to where they've already been. What is she, packing boxes? It's a farce."
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