Amazon.com, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMZN)-owned MGM Studios' documentary about First Lady Melania Trump is exceeding box office expectations. A Breakout Opening Weekend For A Polarizing Film The documentary "Melania" is on pace to earn about $7 million in its opening weekend,

While the documentary is exceeding box office expectations, it's unlikely to make a profit in theaters.

The film’s box office receipts represent a drop in the ocean for Amazon MGM’s $75 million investment.

Journalists from several major news organizations were prevented from attending the premiere of the new Melania Trump documentary this week. The Amazon MGM Studios film debuted at the Trump Kennedy Center under tight press controls.

By financial standards, the film is not a winner, at least not yet. The company that financed it, Amazon MGM Studios, still has a long way to go to break even.

Melania, Amazon MGM’s documentary about Melania Trump, is billed as a behind-the-scenes look at the once-and-future first lady in the 20 days leading up to the inauguration last year. While much has been written about what Melania is,

Amazon and MGM’s $40 million “Melania” documentary is reporting weak advance sales, a signal for a wide release. Insiders have described demand as dismal. The Melania Trump documentary covers three weeks the first lady experienced before Donald Trump’s second-term inauguration date and premieres January 29 at the renamed Trump Kennedy Center,

With a $7 million opening weekend, it's the highest opening for a non-music doc in over a decade, but the $75 million price tag for Amazon tells a different story.

At the splashy Kennedy Center premiere for Melania, the Amazon MGM documentary opening this weekend, the movie’s director, Brett Ratner, and First Lady Melania Trump defended the cost of the project,

Amazon spent $40 million for the rights to “Melania” at auction, and reportedly spent an additional $35 million on the marketing and theatrical release, an unusually high spend for a documentary.

The film is the latest streamer-funded, carefully choreographed, boring, celebrity puff piece being branded as a documentary. It's also a harbinger of what sorts of "true stories" are being championed these days.