“Melania,” the Amazon MGM-produced documentary following the typically guarded US first lady as she prepared for the second inauguration of her husband, US President Donald Trump, opened in 2,000 US theaters and 5,000 worldwide on  Friday.

The vast release came a day after a lavish premiere at the Kennedy Center in Washington, DC, recently redubbed the Trump-Kennedy Center, where the 55-year-old former model’s outspoken husband called the film “glamorous, very glamorous.”

“I want to show the audience my life, what it takes to be a first lady again and [the] transition from private citizen back to the White House,” Melania Trump told reporters as she and the president moved along a charcoal-colored walkway at the event attended by Cabinet members, members of Congress and conservative commentators.

She said viewers will see how she conducts her businesses and philanthropy, cares for her family and builds her White House team.

Most US media have been unenthusiastic in their reviews, with The Atlantic calling the documentary a “disgrace” and the Variety trade magazine describing it as a “shameless infomercial.” The Guardian called it “dispiriting, deadly and unrevealing,” and derided its apparent tiny opening UK ticket sales.

Expected viewership for the film has been much discussed online, with many anticipating weak sales.

The film was directed by “Rush Hour” franchise director Brett Ratner, who has faced multiple allegations of sexual abuse and denied any wrongdoing, and who announced in 2023 that he had moved to Israel.

At a showing in Washington, where a major winter storm has........

© The Times of Israel