It was supposed to be a cinematic triumph marking a return to the spotlight, but Melania Trump’s new documentary has instead sparked a viral phenomenon for all the wrong reasons. Released today, January 30, 2026, the self-titled film Melania has been met with near-empty auditoriums, birthing a savage new internet challenge where users compete to find the emptiest screening. With reports of a Melania Trump documentary flop dominating social media, the project—directed by the controversial Brett Ratner—is quickly becoming the year's most publicized box office disaster.
The "Ghost Town" Challenge: Melania Movie Memes Take Over
As the film premiered across 1,500 theaters nationwide, a trend dubbed the "Ghost Town Challenge" began trending on X (formerly Twitter) and TikTok. Moviegoers are sharing selfies from completely deserted theaters, often captioning them with sarcastic praise for the "private screening" experience. One viral post showed a digital seating chart for a prime-time showing in New York City with literally not a single ticket sold, accompanied by the caption: "I think I can find a seat."
The mockery hasn't stopped at empty seats. Melania movie memes have flooded the internet, targeting the film’s self-serious tone. A clip from the trailer, where the former First Lady ominously declares "Here we go again" while adjusting a hat, has been remixed into everything from horror movie trailers to sitcom intros. The contrast between the film's gilded, high-budget aesthetic and the barren reality of its reception has solidified it as one of the funniest celebrity documentary fails of 2026.
Brett Ratner’s Controversial Comeback Backfires
The disaster is compounded by the involvement of director Brett Ratner, for whom this project was intended to be a major comeback vehicle following years of exile due to #MeToo allegations. Amazon MGM Studios reportedly paid a staggering $40 million for the rights to the film, which documents the 20 days leading up to Donald Trump’s second inauguration in 2025.
However, the Brett Ratner Melania documentary partnership seems to have alienated potential audiences rather than attracting them. Reports from Rolling Stone indicate that two-thirds of the production crew requested their names be removed from the credits, citing discomfort with Ratner's on-set behavior and the project's political nature. This behind-the-scenes chaos has only fueled the public's schadenfreude, with critics calling the $40 million price tag "the most expensive empty room in history."
The Viral $50 Craigslist Ad
In a desperate attempt to fill seats, a Craigslist ad reportedly surfaced in Boston offering moviegoers free tickets plus $50 cash just to sit through the entire 104-minute runtime. While it remains unclear if the ad was a genuine marketing ploy or a prank by internet trolls, it has become a central piece of the Melania Trump news today. Social media users are joking that they "wouldn't do it for $100," further driving the narrative of a historic lack of interest.
Box Office Numbers: A Historic Bomb?
While official weekend numbers are yet to be finalized, early indicators for the Melania movie box office performance are abysmal. In major markets like Los Angeles and London, exhibitors are already slashing screening times. A theater manager in Sittingbourne, UK, reported selling only one ticket for the opening matinee—a fact that was immediately picked up by gleeful meme accounts.
Industry analysts suggest that the Melania Trump documentary flop isn't just about politics; it's about the content. Reviews describe the film as an "exhaustingly boring autohagiography" focused intensely on trivial details, such as Melania commanding staff to make a coat "tighter" or critiquing a hat brim for being "wiggly-woggly." For an audience looking for funny celebrity documentaries 2026, Melania delivers the laughs unintentionally, serving as a masterclass in out-of-touch vanity projects.
What This Means for Celebrity Documentaries
The catastrophic failure of Melania may signal a shift in how streaming giants approach political vanity projects. The combination of a polarizing figure, a disgraced director, and a massive budget has resulted in a perfect storm of indifference and ridicule. As the celebrity documentary fails pile up, this specific instance stands out as a cautionary tale: money can buy production value, but it cannot buy an audience.
For now, the internet is enjoying the show—not on the screen, but in the comment sections. Whether Amazon can recover its investment through streaming remains to be seen, but as of today, the only thing Melania has successfully sold is the joke.
