In another conspicuously fortuitous development for the incoming president, Amazon has opted to develop a documentary on his wife, Melania Trump. The doc, which Puck has referred to as a “vanity” project, will provide an “unprecedented behind the scenes look” at the First Lady, according to Amazon. To make matters weirder, the film is set to be helmed by Brett Ratner, the former action movie director whose career was largely undone by sexual misconduct allegations that cropped up during the #MeToo movement.
News of the documentary was first broken by Semafor, which noted that the production has already begun shooting and is expected to enjoy a brief theatrical run before coming to Amazon’s streaming service, Prime. Puck has since reported on the financials of the deal, revealing Amazon has paid $40 million to license Ratner’s film, according to multiple sources. Melania will also serve as an executive producer on the project and, as Puck’s Matthew Belloni writes, “It’s unclear how much the first lady is personally being paid to participate and ‘produce’ this project while her husband is in office, but I’m betting it’s a big chunk of that $40 million.” Amazon also plans to develop a multi-episode docuseries on Melania that will follow the documentary, Belloni writes.
It could be that Amazon just so happens to have chosen this particular moment to shine a light on the admittedly sphinx-like figure that is Melania Trump… or, it could be that Amazon—like many other tech companies—is currently doing its best to suck up to her husband as he ascends to the White House for his second term. Notably, Amazon is also one of several major tech companies that has recently donated $1 million to Trump’s inauguration festivities. Meta, OpenAI’s Sam Altman, and Apple’s Tim Cook have all made similar donations.
By most accounts, Amazon’s new film is expected to be little more than a hagiography of the First Lady, with Semafor referring to it as a “warm embrace” and Puck calling it “quite a payday for Mrs. Trump.” It’s also, ostensibly, 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 eschewed the spotlight. At the same time, she has also zealously guarded her public image. In 2017, Trump accepted two separate payouts—one from the Daily Mail, and the other from a Maryland blogger, Webster Tarpley—in libel cases that involved the publication of rumors that she had previously worked for an escort service before becoming a model. Both defendants subsequently retracted their stories and apologized.
How Ratner got involved is still somewhat unclear, though Belloni notes that the director is known to maintain “ties to Trumpworld figures,” most notably Steven Mnuchin, who served as the treasury secretary during Trump’s first term and previously worked with Ratner at his RatPac-Dune Entertainment. The director hasn’t made a movie since 2017, the year he was accused by multiple high-profile actresses of sexual harassment and, in one case, sexual assault. Ratner has denied the allegations. He has been living in Israel since 2023.
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