Politics
‘Melania’ Director Brett Ratner Announces Two Sequels to Flopped Documentary About the First Lady
Brett Ratner, the director of the documentary Melania, took to social media earlier this month to announce two sequels.
“I’m explaining to [President Donald Trump] that even I can’t take credit for making Melania look that good! Here we go again…. The saga continues,” Ratner, 57, captioned a photo of himself whispering in the president’s ear on Tuesday, August 11. “Can’t wait to share with everyone around the world the next two chapters of Melania: The Docuseries.”
The film cost Amazon $40 million to license, plus another $35 million in marketing costs, but only earned $16.3 million at the box office, for a loss of nearly $60 million, per Entertainment Weekly.
The 56-year-old former model’s senior advisor and longtime manager, Marc Beckman, had previously told The Hollywood Reporter that the deal included two additional episodes of bonus material to be released on the streamer.
Despite being considered a box office disappointment by many, the film remains the highest grossing documentary of the year so far, EW pointed out, noting that documentaries rarely make that much money.
Senator Elizabeth Warren, a vocal critic of the film — which boasts a dismal 10 percent rating on Rotten Tomatoes — called the transaction “bribery in plain sight.”
“The logical explanation is that Amazon is trying to buy the President’s favor by dumping millions into the Trump family’s pockets,” she argued, per Variety.
As of yet, Ratner has not disclosed further details on when the bonus episodes would be available.
