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Rival documentary surges on Netflix during Melania premiere

Melania touts her movie at White House event then says 'it has nothing to do with promotion'
  • Michelle Obama's 2020 documentary, Becoming, experienced a 13,000% increase in viewership on Netflix over the weekend that Melania Trump's film, Melania, was released.
  • Over 47.5 million minutes of Becoming were streamed by US Netflix users during Melania's opening weekend, a significant rise from 354,000 minutes the previous weekend.
  • First Lady Melania Trump's film, despite receiving critical panning, achieved the biggest opening for a non-fiction feature in the last decade, grossing $7 million domestically.
  • The film is unlikely to recoup the $40 million AmazonMGM paid for it, along with an additional $35 million spent on marketing.
  • Controversies surrounding Melania include the return of director Brett Ratner following sexual misconduct allegations and reports that two-thirds of the crew requested their names be removed from the credits. President Donald Trump attributed any weak ticket sales to the post-Covid theatre business.
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