snip:

There is a difference between a movement and a movie audience.

While the polls show Donald Trump has the voters, the advance ticket numbers for MELANIA show something else entirely: his supporters are happy to vote for him, but they aren't willing to pay to watch a 104-minute transition vlog directed by Brett Ratner.

Despite the President's recent claims that tickets to the premiere at the newly renamed "Trump-Kennedy Center" are a "very hard get," industry tracking tells a different story. Tracking models are currently projecting a domestic opening in the low single-digit millions"a fraction of the $40 million Amazon paid for it. One source told Hollywood insider Rob Shuter that in New York, "only a handful of seats have been booked," adding: "The studio was expecting a big turnout, but so far it's not materializing."

snip ...

We've all been trained by the streaming wars to value our time. If a movie doesn't look compelling enough to drive to a theater, it often isn't compelling enough to finish on a Tuesday night at home, either. Melania is a figure defined by silence. A documentary where she "orchestrates inauguration plans" isn't revealing; it's administrative. Amazon is asking people to pay IMAX prices to watch someone check a seating chart. The "Amazon" branding signals that this is essentially "content," not cinema. And if the content looks this dry, even "free" on Prime might be too expensive in terms of time.

Thanks to reinheitsgebot for originally posting this as a comment.

It definitely deserved a thread of its own.

#4 'Cause the dotard would never use his own money.

Perhaps, like the pharaohs of ancient Egypt, he's planning on being buried with all his wealth.

For the afterlife, natch.

#6 I know, Zed.