Jimmy Kimmel isn’t stopping the buzz from his Amazon-MGM-backed documentary “Melania,” which follows Melania Trump in the 20 days leading up to her husband Donald’s second presidential inauguration. During his latest “Jimmy Kimmel Live” monologue, the late night host questioned the documentary’s box office success. “Melania” grossed $7 million domestically, a strong start for a documentary (though not the best start for a movie that Amazon bought for $40 million and spent $35 million bringing to market).
“According to sources, there was evidence that blocks of tickets for ‘Melania’ were purchased and distributed to Republican activists and nursing homes, which is actually the same thing,” Trump said, referring to recent reports that bulk purchases helped boost box office sales for the film.
“Imagine all those poor old people,” Kimmel quipped. “‘Good morning, Mr. Greenwald. Here’s heart medicine, liver medicine. And here’s a pair of tickets for ‘Melania.'”
“To be fair, some people actually went to see the movie, including a group that calls themselves Church Ladies,” Kimmel continued, tossing out a photo of a group of white women all wearing the same white dress with black stripes. “The rest of us call them ‘Idiots as the Rockets.’ They appear to be a group of redacted documents from Epstein’s files. It’s all very suspenseful, as the kids like to say.”
Kimmel then drew attention to the reviews for “Melania,” which were mostly negative when compared to general audience scores.
“As of tonight, Melania’s score on Rotten Tomatoes from critics is 5%, which is very low,” Kimmel said. “To put that in perspective, this is 1% lower than ‘Gigli.'” The audience score for “Melania” is 99% positive, 1% higher than “The Godfather.” And I’m sure Donald J. Corleone had nothing to do with it. ”
Kimmel concluded, “We need to get to the bottom of this. Send in Tulsi Gabbard and the FBI! Seize ticket machines, popcorn buckets, and box office receipts from multiplexes across America!”
As reported by Variety, the audience for “Melania” during its opening weekend was 72% female and 83% over the age of 45. Nearly 75% of ticket buyers were white, according to PostTrak data. Theaters in Los Angeles and New York City are traditionally among the top markets, but “Melania” performed best in red cities such as Dallas, Orlando, Tampa, Phoenix and West Palm Beach.
Kimmel had criticized Melania even before the documentary was released, calling the film a “$75 million bribe that Amazon made for her.” The host then praised the film’s debut, which grossed $7 million at the box office, saying, “It set a record. It was the biggest opening for a non-musical ostentation project/brazen corporate bribery in the last 10 years.”
Watch Kimmel’s latest monologue in the video below.
