Amazon’s $40m Melania Trump doc set for January release with ‘exclusive footage’ of ‘critical meetings’ | Documentary films
Amazon will release the Melania Trump documentary in theaters in January 2026.
The film follows the First Lady in the 20 days before the inauguration in 2025 and comes from director Brett Ratner. This is the filmmaker’s first feature film since he was accused of sexual misconduct by multiple women in 2017. He denied the allegations.
The official description states that Melania will show us the world through her eyes as she “organizes inauguration plans, deals with the complexities of the White House transition, and re-enters public life with her family.” The documentary will also feature “exclusive footage capturing critical meetings, private conversations and never-before-seen environments.” He also serves as a producer on the project.
“We started production in November and we’re shooting right now, so it’s day-to-day life, what do I do, what kind of responsibilities do I have,” Melania said. Interview with Fox & Friends in January. “The day-to-day stuff, from the transition team to moving into the White House, packing, building my team, the First Lady’s office, moving into the White House, what it takes to make the house your home, hiring the people you need.”
He added that the film was partly a result of the success of his memoir. Lloyd Green of The Guardian called it “a 180-page exercise in blame and evasion of blame”.
Amazon reportedly spent $40 million for the rights to the documentary. Jeff Bezos, the company’s founder and chairman, attended Donald Trump’s inauguration earlier this year. Bezos was previously criticized for allegedly preventing the Washington Post from supporting Trump’s opponent, Kamala Harris, in the elections. He later defended the decision as a way to avoid media bias.
Alongside the documentary, Amazon will also release a three-part docuseries chronicling Melania’s life as she travels between New York, Washington DC and Palm Beach.
Ratner’s credits include the Rush Hour series and Red Dragon. After numerous women, including actors Natasha Henstridge and Olivia Munn, blamed him Her contract with Warner Bros. ended due to sexual misconduct.
He moved to Israel in 2023 and he called himself “A proud Zionist” on Instagram. Ratner is also said to be working on a documentary about the Abraham Accords and is known to be friends with Benjamin Netanyahu. share a picture brought them together on his social media.
Melania will be released in theaters on January 30 and will stream on Amazon Prime at a later date.
