A Melania Trump documentary from director Brett Ratner will be released by Amazon

Advertisement

Advertise with us

LOS ANGELES (AP) — Incoming first lady Melania Trump will be the subject of a new documentary directed by Brett Ratner and distributed by Amazon Prime Video. The streaming arm of the tech giant got exclusive licensing rights for a streaming and theatrical release later this year, the company said Sunday.

Read this article for free:


or

Already have an account? Log in here »

To continue reading, please subscribe:

Subscribe and receive a limited-edition Free Press branded hat or tote.

Digital Subscription

One year of digital access for only $205*

  • Enjoy unlimited reading on winnipegfreepress.com
  • Read the E-Edition, our digital replica newspaper
  • Access News Break, our award-winning app
  • Play interactive puzzles

*First annual payment billed as $205.00 + GST for one year. This annual subscription will automatically renew at $233.00 + GST every 52 weeks (10% off the regular annual price of $259.35). Offer available to new and qualified returning subscribers only. Cancel any time.

To continue reading, please subscribe:

Add Free Press access to your Brandon Sun subscription for only an additional

$1 for the first 4 weeks*

  • Enjoy unlimited reading on winnipegfreepress.com
  • Read the E-Edition, our digital replica newspaper
  • Access News Break, our award-winning app
  • Play interactive puzzles
Start now

*Your next Brandon Sun subscription payment will increase by $1.00 and you will be charged $17.95 plus GST for four weeks. After four weeks, your payment will increase to $24.95 plus GST every four weeks.

Hey there, time traveller!
This article was published 05/01/2025 (619 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

LOS ANGELES (AP) — Incoming first lady Melania Trump will be the subject of a new documentary directed by Brett Ratner and distributed by Amazon Prime Video. The streaming arm of the tech giant got exclusive licensing rights for a streaming and theatrical release later this year, the company said Sunday.

Filming is already underway on the documentary. The company said in a statement that the film will give viewers an “unprecedented behind-the-scenes look” at Melania Trump and also promised a “truly unique story.”

The former and now future first lady also released a self-titled memoir late last year. Her husband takes office on Jan. 20.

FILE - Former first lady Melania Trump speaks at a campaign rally, Oct. 27, 2024, in New York. (AP Photo/Julia Demaree Nikhinson, File)
FILE - Former first lady Melania Trump speaks at a campaign rally, Oct. 27, 2024, in New York. (AP Photo/Julia Demaree Nikhinson, File)

The film is the latest connection between Amazon founder Jeff Bezos and Donald Trump. The company in December announced plans to donate $1 million to the President-elect’s inauguration fund, and said that it would also stream Trump’s inauguration on its Prime Video service, a separate in-kind donation worth another $1 million.

The two men had been at odds in the past. During his first term, Trump criticized Amazon and railed against the political coverage at The Washington Post, which Bezos owns. But he’s struck a more conciliatory tone recently as Amazon and other tech companies seek to improve their relationship with the incoming president.

In December, Bezos expressed some excitement about potential regulatory cutbacks in the coming years and said he was “optimistic” about Trump’s second term.

Bezos in October did not allow the Post to endorse a presidential candidate, a move that led to tens of thousands of people canceling their subscriptions and to protests from journalists with a deep history at the newspaper. This weekend, a cartoonist quit her job after an editor rejected her sketch of the newspaper’s owner and other media executives bowing before the president-elect.

The film also marks the first project that Ratner has directed since he was accused of sexual misconduct by multiple women, including actor Olivia Munn, in the early days of the #MeToo reckoning in November 2017. Ratner, whose lawyer denied the allegations, directed the “Rush Hour” film series, “Red Dragon” and ’’X-Men: The Last Stand.”

Fernando Sulichin, an Argentine filmmaker, is executive producing the film, which began shooting in December.

Melania Trump, Donald Trump’s third wife, has been an enigmatic figure since her husband announced he was running in the 2016 election. She had sought to maintain her privacy even as she served as first lady, focusing on raising their son, Barron, and promoting her “Be Best” initiative to support the “social, emotional, and physical health of children.”

While she appeared at her husband’s campaign launch event for 2024 and attended the closing night of the Republican National Convention this summer, she has otherwise stayed off the campaign trail, though the demands of again being first lady may dictate a higher public profile after Inauguration Day.

__

This story has been updated to correct the director’s first name in the headline.

Report Error Submit a Tip

More Stories

Menstruation, consent move up in sex-ed lesson plan

Maggie Macintosh 5 minute read Preview

Menstruation, consent move up in sex-ed lesson plan

Maggie Macintosh 5 minute read Yesterday at 6:00 AM CDT

Manitoba’s newest curriculum introduces the menstrual cycle earlier and repeatedly calls for explicit lessons on how students can give, seek, and decline to provide their consent.

The education department has released its sweeping proposal to overhaul how exercise, nutrition and sexuality are taught between kindergarten and Grade 12.

Grade 5 has long served as a key turning point for “the talk,” said J Fiedler, a sexual and reproductive health educator who provided input on the new curriculum.

“There’s no ‘the talk’ anymore. Now, there’s continuations of multiple ‘talks,’ which can hopefully reduce stress for students and stigma that people experience talking about sexuality.”

Read
Yesterday at 6:00 AM CDT

MMF walks away from bid to buy Fort Garry Hotel

Carol Sanders 3 minute read Preview

MMF walks away from bid to buy Fort Garry Hotel

Carol Sanders 3 minute read Yesterday at 3:03 PM CDT

The Manitoba Métis Federation won’t buy the historic Fort Garry Hotel, President David Chartrand said Monday.

Read
Yesterday at 3:03 PM CDT

Winnipeg venues saying no to AI-made advertisements

Sheldon Birnie 8 minute read Preview

Winnipeg venues saying no to AI-made advertisements

Sheldon Birnie 8 minute read Updated: Yesterday at 10:22 AM CDT

Although the days when telephone poles and notice boards across the city were thick with gig posters, either slopped up with wheat paste or wrapped tight with packing tape, are behind us, the art of making an appealing visual ad for live music events is still a vital part of the local creative scene.

However, a widespread backlash against a new kind of slop — the use of generative AI images — has been building, especially among creatives when it comes to promoting live music.

“Live music is and always has been a DIY type of scene, especially locally,” says Evan Simpson, who has been working as a graphic designer for nearly a decade.

“For years people have been making their own flyers, or if they have the budget, hiring a designer or artist to come up with some artwork for their flyers. It’s a whole ecosystem, a scene supporting itself. If you take away the visual side of it, the spark, individuality and uniqueness of each gig poster is lost. What a sad world it would be if all art were made by AI.”

Read
Updated: Yesterday at 10:22 AM CDT

Staying away to keep the heat on

Editorial 4 minute read Preview

Staying away to keep the heat on

Editorial 4 minute read Yesterday at 2:00 AM CDT

It’s a tough sell these days for U.S. tourism groups seeking to attract Canadian visitors as tension, tariffs and traded verbal barbs continue to rise between the two countries.

Read
Yesterday at 2:00 AM CDT

Police cracking down on gangs, organized crime in bars and lounges

Nicole Buffie 4 minute read Preview

Police cracking down on gangs, organized crime in bars and lounges

Nicole Buffie 4 minute read Updated: 6:56 PM CDT

Patrons can expect to see more police officers in and around bars and lounges in the coming months as the Winnipeg Police Service plans to crack down on gangs and organized crime.

Uniformed officers will be patrolling bars, lounges and other licensed establishments, targeting gang members and people associated with organized crime. Priority will be given to those who pose the greatest risk to public safety, WPS said in a news release Tuesday.

“We’ve seen — time and time again — where people involved in gangs, in organized crime, attract violence or commit violence, on people who they would perceive as their rivals,” Insp. Josh Ewatski, who heads the service’s organized crime unit said, noting the plan was in the works for a while.

He said while there was no specific incident that resulted in the new push, but said violence — including stabbings, assaults and shootings — over the years is behind the move.

Read
Updated: 6:56 PM CDT

‘Didn’t realize how close I was’ to getting hit, pedestrian says

Scott Billeck 5 minute read Preview

‘Didn’t realize how close I was’ to getting hit, pedestrian says

Scott Billeck 5 minute read Updated: Yesterday at 3:18 PM CDT

A West Broadway pedestrian says it was like a scene straight out of the movies as he narrowly avoided being plowed into during a midday police pursuit.

Adam Orbanski was crossing Langside Street along Broadway Friday and had just made it to the curb when a vehicle slammed into another metres away from him.

“It’s pretty crazy,” Orbanski said Monday after viewing security footage of the incident captured by a nearby business. “I didn’t realize how close I was, I guess, until my friend sent me the security footage. I’m lucky to be alive.”

Orbanski said he was walking home from work when he began to hear sirens. As he crossed Langside, he could see one vehicle approaching him quickly.

Read
Updated: Yesterday at 3:18 PM CDT