Amazon paid $40 million for a documentary about Melania Trump

In another apparently fortuitous development for the incoming president, Amazon has chosen to develop a documentary about his wife, Melania Trump. The doc, that Puck he referred as a “vanity” project, it provides an “unprecedented behind-the-scenes look” at the First Lady, according to Amazon. To make things even weirder, the film is to be directed by Brett Ratner, the former action film director whose career was largely undone by allegations of sexual misconduct which emerged during the #MeToo movement.

The news of the documentary came first broken by Semaphorewho noted that the production has already started shooting and is expected to enjoy a short theatrical run before coming to Amazon’s streaming service, Prime. Puck has since reported on the financials of the deal, revealing that Amazon paid $40 million to license Ratner’s film, according to multiple sources. Melania will also serve as an executive producer on the project and, like Puck’s Matteu Belloni writes“It’s unclear how much the first lady was personally paid to participate and ‘produce’ this project while her husband is in office, but I bet it’s a big chunk of that $40 million.” Amazon also plans to develop a multi-episode docuseries about Melania that will follow the documentary, Belloni writes.

It could be that Amazon has chosen this particular moment to shine a light on the certainly sphinx figure that is Melania Trump … or, it could be that Amazon – like many other technology companies – is currently doing its best to suck the her husband as he ascends to the White House for his second term. In particular, Amazon is also one of many major technology companies that recently donated $1 million at Trump’s inauguration festivities. MetaSam Altman of OpenAI, and Apple’s Tim Cook all made similar donations.

By most accounts, the new Amazon movie is expected to be little more than a hagiography of the First Lady, with Semafor referring to it as a “warm hug” and Puck calling it “a beautiful day of payment for Mrs. Trump.” It is also, apparently, an opportunity for her to tell her story. Despite a recent book deal and her husband being one of the most recognizable people on the planet, Melania has largely avoided the spotlight. At the same time, he also zealously guarded his public image. In 2017, Trump accepted two separate payments— one by the Daily Mail, and the other by a Maryland blogger, Webster Tarpley — in libel cases involving the publication of rumors that she had previously worked for an escort service before becoming a model. Both accused later retracted their stories and apologized.

How Ratner got involved is still unclear, although Belloni notes that the director is known to maintain “ties with Trumpworld figures,” in particular. Steven Mnuchinwho served as treasury secretary during Trump’s first term and before worked with Ratner to his RatPac-Dune Entertainment. The director has not made a film since 2017, the year he was accused by several high-profile actresses. sexual harassment and, in one case, sexual assault. Ratner has he denied the charges. Has been living in Israel since 2023.