The documentary Melania, which Amazon MGM Studios created as a major production, changed from its initial movie focus to become a legal and financial dispute.
The film directed by Brett Ratner shows the twenty days before the 2025 presidential inauguration as it reveals intimate details about the First Lady’s White House return.
The project faces challenges because it has spent an extraordinary $75 million, which includes $40 million for acquisition and $35 million for marketing, while experiencing a 67% drop in box office revenue during its second weekend and facing an emerging copyright conflict.
Unlicensed Scores and Contractual Breaches
A legal obstacle appeared when Paul Thomas Anderson and Jonny Greenwood of Radiohead requested that their music piece be removed from the film. The documentary presents the “Barbara Rose” composition which Anderson created for his 2017 film Phantom Thread and which Greenwood composed.
The duo announced to Variety that Universal controls the copyright, but they claimed that a “breach of his composer agreement” occurred because Greenwood did not give permission for third parties to use his work.
The dispute shows how filmmakers and the artistic community face growing tensions because artists oppose the unapproved connection of their creations to politically charged projects.
Inflated Budgets and Strategic Speculation
The financial structure of the film has attracted attention from Hollywood because the documentary was acquired for $40 million. Experts note that for a film shot in just 20 days, the valuation appears less like a traditional business deal and more like a strategic move to curry favor with the administration.
The film made approximately 13.5 million dollars at domestic theaters during its first two weeks, but its high marketing costs prevent it from achieving any theatrical profitability.
The industry believes that Amazon made the large investment because it serves as a preemptive olive branch to assist with upcoming regulatory and antitrust investigations.
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