Here’s a jaw-dropping fact: Amazon’s documentary Melania: Twenty Days to History raked in $7 million during its opening weekend, surpassing predictions that capped it at $5 million. Sounds impressive, right? But here’s where it gets controversial: that $7 million is less than 10% of the $75 million Amazon poured into the project—including a staggering $28 million paid to Melania Trump herself. On Wednesday night, late-night hosts Stephen Colbert and Jimmy Kimmel didn’t hold back, dissecting these numbers with their signature wit. Colbert quipped on The Late Show that the figures needed context, joking that the $7 million haul was enough to put a smile on someone’s face—‘if that were physically possible.’ He even brought in a Melania impersonator to hilariously ‘explain’ the film’s appeal. Meanwhile, Kimmel took aim at the documentary’s critical reception during Jimmy Kimmel Live!, pointing out its abysmal 5% score on Rotten Tomatoes—lower than the notoriously bad 2003 film Gigli. And this is the part most people miss: despite the critical flop, the audience score soared to 99% on the Popcornmeter, topping even The Godfather. Kimmel couldn’t resist a jab at Donald Trump, quipping, ‘I’m sure Donald J. Corleone had nothing to do with that.’ He also called out Amazon’s spin on the numbers, suggesting their claim of a ‘14-year record for nonmusical documentaries’ was just a way to mask tens of millions in losses. Kimmel even joked about Republican groups buying bulk tickets to inflate the numbers, mockingly calling for a recount involving Tulsi Gabbard and the FBI. But he didn’t stop there—he slammed Amazon’s Jeff Bezos for laying off a third of The Washington Post’s staff after funding the documentary. Here’s the real question: Is this documentary a genuine cultural phenomenon, or just a costly PR stunt? And does its financial performance reflect public interest, or something more calculated? Let us know what you think in the comments—this is one debate that’s far from over.
