Melania Trump Adviser Cites Hollywood Stars in Documentary Defense

A senior adviser to former first lady Melania Trump has drawn comparisons between her documentary "Melania" and films featuring prominent Hollywood actors Tom Cruise, Julia Roberts, and Leonardo DiCaprio. Marc Beckman, in social media posts, cited the box-office performance of these actors' recent movies to support his claims about the documentary's success.

Beckman stated that on a per-theater basis, "Melania" outperformed Tom Cruise's film "Digger" by approximately 67%, despite "Melania" opening in roughly half the number of theaters. "Digger" played in 1,543 more theaters than "Melania."

In a subsequent post, Beckman argued that the documentary "Melania" demonstrated "extraordinary theatrical drawing power, rivaling some of Hollywood’s most recognizable stars." He asserted that the film also outperformed movies starring Roberts and DiCaprio, adding that it "did not need Hollywood-scale distribution to command a Hollywood-scale audience." The specific films featuring Roberts and DiCaprio were not named.

The documentary "Melania" did achieve the biggest opening for a nonfiction film in a decade. However, its estimated $16.7 million in theatrical earnings were considered modest in light of the reported $75 million Amazon spent acquiring and marketing the film.