Millionaire spending, blank script, almost empty theaters: the premiere of Melania Trump’s film in SP

Montage with the poster of the film about Melania Trump and the recording of the premiere session in a cinema in Pompeia, in SP, with just one spectator Reproduction and Vinícius Lemos/g1 It was 12:30 pm on Friday (30) when retired Fernando Passos, aged 74, sat down in a cinema in Pompeia, in São Paulo, to watch the film about Melania Trump, the American first lady. “I really like her, because she’s stylish. I like that hat of hers covering her eyes at celebrations, like at inaugurations. I think that, like everything in politics, besides being interesting, she’s kind of hilarious,” said Passos. He was the only person present in that room in a shopping mall. The bad time on a weekday, according to him, was one of the main reasons for the low demand for the documentary “Melania”, released this Friday (30) around the world. “Who comes to the cinema at this time on a weekday, besides retirees like me?”, he asks. Passos declares himself a supporter of American President Donald Trump. “He is a negotiator, he is a ‘businessman’, he has always done very positive things”, he assesses. The retiree says that for many decades he belonged to the left to defend minority agendas, but argues that he was disappointed with the first administrations of President Lula (PT) and today defines himself as conservative. “Nowadays I have a different view on politics. The left has many fallacies in its promises, there was a lot of corruption in the Lula government and, therefore, I changed my view”, comments Passos. At the end of the documentary, he said he was delighted with Melania’s attitude. “It was a film,” he summarized. Retired Fernando Passos was the only spectator at the premiere of “Melania” in a Pompeii cinema, in São Paulo Vinícius Lemos/g1 “Melania” follows the trajectory of the American first lady in the 20 days leading up to Donald Trump’s inauguration in 2025, during his return to the presidency. The work has been the target of controversy and criticism for being completely whitewashed: there is nothing that displeases the first lady. She exercised complete editorial control over the content, which caused critics to question the artistic integrity and journalistic value of the production. Furthermore, the production received an investment of US$75 million from Amazon MGM Studios, much higher than other works of the genre. This amount, according to the “New York Times”, includes around US$40 million for licensing the work and another US$35 million for an aggressive marketing campaign. Industry analysts and critics question the motives behind such high spending, suggesting that Amazon may be trying to curry favor with the Trump administration. MORE All of them only made one time available in the afternoon this Friday. Friends Suzan, 68, and Denise, 62 (both did not want to give their last name), complained about the 2:20 pm time slot, the only one available in a shopping mall in Morumbi. “We had to rush to lunch to get there on time”, criticized Suzan. They say they like Melania and bought a ticket to the film because they wanted to know the behind-the-scenes of the 2025 inauguration. While Denise is restrained about political comments, Suzan quickly speaks out when asked about the American president. “I fully support Trump’s administration, because he is absolutely right,” he said. In the same session was retired Sônia Pansera, who said she went to the cinema to relax and also out of curiosity about Melania’s life. “On Saturday I came to watch Hamnet and saw the trailer for Melania’s film, so I decided to come.” Pansera does not consider herself an admirer of Trump or Melania. “I’m not a fan, nothing too special,” he says. “I’m not totally in favor of, nor totally against Trump. I think he’s impetuous, he talks a lot and then backtracks, he acts more thoughtfully,” he said. In addition to them, there were four other people in the cinema at Morumbi, one of them being a film critic, who was there to analyze the production. The third place the report visited was in the Bela Vista neighborhood, in São Paulo, in a session at 4pm. There were six people in the room instead, one of them being another film critic. The low demand for the film is not something exclusive to Brazil. Around the world, production has also struggled to attract an audience. In London, for example, according to The Guardian newspaper, few ticket units were sold at the film’s premiere. g1 follows the premiere of Melania Trump’s film in SP Vinícius Lemos/g1 g1 contacted Amazon MGM, responsible for “Melania”, to find out details about the film’s distribution in Brazil, but did not receive a response by the time this text was completed. In São Paulo cinemas, the recently released film will continue with a single daily showing, mostly in the afternoon, over the next few days. Even on the weekend, the documentary doesn’t seem to attract much attention. In a search on ticket platforms in the capital of São Paulo, it is possible to see exhibition halls with no occupied seats or with one or two ticket units sold for Saturday (31) and Sunday (1). See the videos that are trending on g1

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