Melanue, Already, it is the most successful documentary Amazon MGM Studios has licensed: 

1. Box‑office: a surprise by documentary standards

Melania’s theatrical debut—roughly $7 million across more than 1,700–1,800 theaters—exceeded industry expectations and placed the film high on weekend charts, which is why multiple outlets called it a standout documentary opening in recent years ^{[1] [4] [5]}. Trade coverage and studio statements framed that result as “a strong start,” and box‑office trackers reported that audience demographics skewed heavily female, with early attendance numbers in the hundreds of thousands for the weekend ^{[1] [4]}.

2. Cost and scale: the most expensive documentary ever licensed

Amazon MGM Studios paid roughly $40 million to license Melania and reportedly spent about $35 million on marketing, creating an approximately $75 million tab that multiple outlets described as making it the costliest documentary deal in history ^{[2] [3] [6]}. That scale — national TV spots during major sports, billboards, projections on the Sphere, and a high‑profile Kennedy Center premiere attended by administration figures — is far beyond typical documentary rollouts ^{[3] [7]}.

3. Defining “most successful”: box office, profit, influence, or reach?

If “most successful” is measured by opening‑week documentary box‑office performance, reporting supports the claim that Melania is among Amazon MGM’s best‑performing non‑music documentary starts in over a decade ^{[1] [4]}. But if success is defined by return on investment, profit, or long‑term streaming value, the $7 million theatrical intake sits well short of recouping the ~$75 million outlay, and outlets note the film would be “a flop” financially for a conventional studio film at that cost even as it’s a success by documentary norms ^{[2] [5]}.

4. Amazon MGM’s documentary catalogue and precedents

Amazon MGM has licensed and released other high‑profile documentaries for Prime Video—examples include the Celine Dion film acquisition—showing a history of paying for star‑driven nonfiction content to bolster streaming offerings ^[8]. Public lists of Amazon MGM theatrical releases confirm the studio’s active acquisition strategy, but available reporting does not present a prior acquisition with comparable headline‑making financial terms to Melania ^{[9] [10]}.

5. Political and strategic dimensions muddy the “success” narrative

Several outlets and commentators raised questions about whether the licensing deal served strategic aims beyond pure commercial calculus, pointing to the unusual timing, the outsized payday reported to Melania, and Amazon founder Jeff Bezos’s connections to political figures — all of which Amazon and filmmakers denied, asserting the pickup was driven by expected audience appeal ^{[11] [7] [3]}. Analysts quoted in coverage warned that long‑term value may be judged in streaming engagement or influence, not just theatrical revenue, a metric that is inherently opaque in the public record ^{[11] [2]}.

6. Verdict: a qualified “yes” and why it’s incomplete

By the narrow measure of opening‑week documentary box‑office and the scale of theatrical rollout, Melania can be described as the most prominent and one of the strongest‑opening documentaries Amazon MGM Studios has licensed in recent memory ^{[1] [4]}. Yet describing it as unequivocally the studio’s “most successful” acquisition overreaches because success requires clarity about financial return, streaming performance, cultural impact, and the company’s strategic aims — data that reporting either shows is unfavorable to simple profit claims or is not publicly available ^{[2] [8]}. Without transparent post‑release streaming numbers and a definition of success, the claim must remain qualified: commercially notable in box‑office terms, historically expensive in acquisition and marketing, and strategically ambiguous in ultimate payoff ^{[2] [3]}.