Melania Trump’s much-discussed documentary will not be shown in South African cinemas.
According to the New York Times, “Melania” — scheduled to open worldwide on Friday and already a highly contentious film — has been pulled from theaters in the country by the local distributor.
“Based on recent developments, we’ve taken the decision to not go ahead with a theatrical release in territory,” said Filmfinity’s head of sales and marketing Thobashan Govindarajulu to South African outlet News24, who first reported the news.
While Govindarajulu didn’t say what the recent developments were, he asserted that the move was “our decision” and that it hadn’t been pressurized into doing so. That said, the decision does come amid rising tensions between Donald Trump and the South African government after the U.S president criticized the country, making widely discredited claims that a genocide is being committed against its white population.
Variety has reached out to Amazon for comment.
South Africa aside, “Melanie” has already become one of the most polarizing releases of the year, a major $40 million investment by Amazon that is projected to earn just $3 million in its opening weekend. Directed by Brett Ratner, the film has unsurprisingly been promoted by the president himself, who described it as a “must watch.”
Being distributed by Amazon MGM and following the First Lady in the 20 days leading up to Donald Trump’s second presidential inauguration, the film recently came under fire from Jimmy Kimmel.
“According to the writer Michael Wolff, Melania is bigly upset that the murders in Minneapolis are overshadowing the release of the $75 million bribe — I mean, documentary — that Amazon made for her,” he joked on “Jimmy Kimmel Live,” referring to the “Inside Trump’s Head” podcast where Wolff claimed Melania is “truly pissed off” that nationwide backlash over ICE brutality in Minnesota is taking away the publicity from her documentary release.
