First lady Melania Trump’s newly released documentary Melania could end up in the running for one of Hollywood’s least-desired honors, according to a Gold Derby report.
“We are tracking Melania—that should be a shoo-in,” Maureen Murphy, co-founder of the Razzies—or the Golden Raspberry Awards—told Gold Derby.
The documentary arrived with strong opening-weekend ticket sales but has taken heavy criticism from reviewers, setting up a high-profile split between box office buzz and critical reception.
It’s also a sizable corporate wager: Amazon MGM Studios spent a reported $40 million to acquire the film and $35 million on marketing, making it the most expensive documentary ever made, Newsweek reported previously.
“We have precedents of documentaries being nominated and/or winning in the following categories: picture, actor, actress, supporting actress, supporting actor, director, and screen combo,” Murphy told Gold Derby.
“Melania appears to qualify for most of the categories listed above,” she said, adding that the group hasn’t watched the film yet: “We haven’t yet seen the movie — we hear [theaters are] very crowded. So we might need to wait for ‘free’ Prime.”
Directed by Brett Ratner—who returned to filmmaking for the first time since 2017 amid sexual assault allegations he denies—Melania opened in 1,778 U.S. theaters on January 30 and chronicles the 20 days in January 2025 leading into Donald Trump’s second inauguration.
The movie posted an estimated $7 million opening weekend, beating projections of $3 million to $5 million and marking the strongest documentary debut aside from concert films in 14 years, Newsweek previously reported.
Donald Trump promoted the film as “a must watch,” and the Trumps hosted a Kennedy Center premiere attended by Cabinet members and lawmakers ahead of its release.
Audience reception has been dramatically different from critics’ reviews. Viewers gave Melania a 99 percent score on Rotten Tomatoes’ Popcornmeter, while critics were sharply negative, with The Hollywood Reporter calling it “an unabashed, fly-on-the-gilded-wall fawn job” and describing it as “expensive propaganda.”
Newsweek reported that the 99 percent audience score contrasted with a critics’ Tomatometer of five percent at the time of reporting, raising questions about whether the audience rating was being artificially influenced.
Debunk.org, a disinformation watchdog, told Newsweek it found “something suspicious,” pointing to a sample of more than 220 user comments that were 97 percent positive and included many accounts that appeared to have posted only a single review. The Internet Movie Database (IMDB) also flagged “unusual voting activity” on the title’s reviews.
Versant, the parent company of Rotten Tomatoes and Fandango, told Newsweek there was “NO bot manipulation” and said Popcornmeter reviews are limited to verified paid ticket buyers, with both automated systems and staff moderation.
Gold Derby’s reporting suggests Melania could be a notable contender when the Golden Raspberry Awards unveil their 2027 nominations.
