The theatrical debut of Amazon MGM Studios’ documentary centered on Melania Trump appears to have triggered renewed interest in content about former first ladies with Netflix’s 2020 film Becoming experiencing a dramatic surge in U.S. viewership over the same weekend.
According to data from measurement firm Luminate, Becoming, which chronicles Michelle Obama’s life and book tour following her time in the White House, recorded a massive increase in viewing minutes between January 30 and February 1. The documentary logged 47.5 million minutes watched across those three days, marking a jump of more than 13,000 percent compared to the previous weekend.
Just one week earlier, from January 23 to 25, the title drew only around 354,000 minutes of viewing time. While the numbers are modest by Netflix’s blockbuster standards, the spike represents a notable resurgence for a title that had otherwise been seeing relatively low daily traffic throughout January.
The viewership bump coincided almost exactly with the release of Melania, the Amazon-backed documentary that opened in theaters nationwide. Luminate’s figures show that Becoming drew fewer than one million viewing minutes on January 30, before skyrocketing the following day. On January 31, viewership jumped to approximately 13.9 million minutes, and on February 1 the film reached its highest daily total with 32.7 million minutes watched. The elevated interest carried into the following days, with millions more minutes logged on February 2 and 3.
Industry analysts note that the timing suggests audiences may have sought out alternative perspectives on modern first ladies following the high-profile release of Melania. The Amazon film, directed by Brett Ratner, focuses on Melania Trump in the weeks leading up to Donald Trump’s second inauguration and posted the strongest opening weekend for a non-fiction film in the past decade, earning $7 million in its theatrical debut.
Despite the notable opening, questions remain about the documentary’s overall profitability. The film reportedly cost $40 million to license, with an additional $35 million spent on marketing, and while it opened in approximately 1,800 theaters, its opening weekend fell short of the potential ceiling such a wide release could offer. Its long-term performance, including its eventual streaming debut on Prime Video, has yet to be determined.
Becoming, directed by Nadia Hallgren, offers an intimate portrait of Michelle Obama’s life during and after her years as first lady, following her on the global tour for her bestselling memoir. The documentary provides behind-the-scenes access to the cultural phenomenon that surrounded the book’s release, including large-scale appearances such as her sold-out event at New York’s Barclays Center. The memoir, published in 2018, went on to become the top-selling book of that year.
Source: Deadline