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Split of Brett Ratner and an ad for “MELANIA.” (Pascal Le Segretain\/Getty Images; Ming Yeung\/Getty Images)<\/p>\n
The Hollywood director shared how rare it is for documentaries to premiere in theaters around the world. “And that’s exactly why she wanted to hire me,” Ratner began. “Because I said, you know, I wasn’t trying to wiggle my way out of the job, but there were many great documentary filmmakers \u2026 And she said, \u2018But I don’t want a documentary filmmaker. I want a feature filmmaker who makes movies for the big screen.\u2019 And that’s why I was so excited about this because she was thinking big,” he continued. “She wasn’t just thinking, ‘OK, we’ll do it for streaming, we’ll do it just for the MAGA audience. We’re gonna do it for everyone.’ I was really excited that Melania had this vision for the movie that was bigger than I even imagined,” he continued.<\/p>\n
Ratner added that the film would be a “huge case study” because it was widely panned by critics, but audiences loved it.<\/p>\n
“What we\u2019re experiencing is people are going and seeing this movie <\/a>three and four times,” he said, adding that he just got off the phone with the president who told him, “\u2019I have friends whose wives have seen this movie already over the weekend three and four times.\u2019 And I was like \u2018Really?\u2019 So, I\u2019m proud. I\u2019m really, really proud.”<\/p>\n “MELANIA” beat expectations in its opening weekend, earning $7.1 million<\/a> by galvanizing conservatives over 55, especially women. It placed third domestically, and was also the biggest opening for a documentary in more than a decade.<\/p>\n ‘MELANIA’ WORLD PREMIERE: PRESIDENT TRUMP, FIRST LADY, RFK JR., NICKI MINAJ AND MANY MORE LIGHT UP RED CARPET<\/strong><\/a><\/p>\n Amazon MGM Studios paid $40 million for the rights to the film and an upcoming docuseries on the first lady also directed by Ratner, and spent $35 million promoting it.<\/p>\n Ratner explained that he was given full access to what the first lady was doing to prepare for the president\u2019s second inauguration and felt that calling the film a documentary wasn\u2019t quite accurate for what he made.<\/p>\n An ad for “MELANIA” in Los Angeles. (Mario Tama\/Getty Images)<\/p>\n “We\u2019re not telling history. We\u2019re making history,” he said, explaining no stock footage was used in the film, he stayed away from anything political and just focused on “the role of the first lady. Her idea was so brilliant because she wanted to tell a story about the role of a first lady through her eyes.”<\/p>\n One thing he said amazed him was that while actors go back to their trailers and relax between scenes on a movie, the first lady was “having high level meetings” between shooting.\u00a0<\/p>\n He even thought they should get a second crew to film her busy scheduling in between filming.\u00a0<\/p>\n “She serves the people<\/a>,” he gushed. “She takes this role so seriously because there was no breaks. Because people talk about the president sleeping, you know? I don\u2019t see her sleeping.”<\/p>\n EXCLUSIVE: FIRST LOOK AT ‘MELANIA’ FILM<\/strong><\/a><\/p>\n While filming, including in disaster areas, Ratner said he saw incredible “compassion” and “humanity” from the first lady.<\/p>\n “You can always tell when someone doesn\u2019t want to be there,” adding that he felt the first day was “so present” in those moments.<\/p>\n Brett Ratner at the premiere of “MELANIA” at the Kennedy Center on Thursday. (Taylor Hill\/WireImage)<\/p>\n He called watching the premiere of the film last Thursday with the president and first lady at the Trump-Kennedy Center “one of the greatest experiences of” his life despite having made blockbusters like the “Rush Hour” movies. “I will never forget it.”<\/p>\n “I will never have a cinematic experience like that ever again,” he said of getting to see their faces as they watched the film.<\/p>\n CLICK HERE TO SIGN UP FOR THE ENTERTAINMENT NEWSLETTER<\/strong><\/a><\/p>\n The president didn\u2019t have enough nice things to say about the movie, Ratner explained, telling Fox News Digital that Trump called it “phenomenal,” “elegant” and “sophisticated.”<\/p>\n “He rolled out the compliments, and it was sincerity. He\u2019s very proud of it,” Ratner said.<\/p>\n![\"Ad](\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/02\/ad-for-melania-in-la.jpg\")
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