&34;I'm sure Donald J. Corleone had nothing to do with that at all,&34; the comedian quipped. Jimmy Kimmel calls out 'sus' box office for Melania doc: 'We need to get to the bottom of this' &34;I'm sure Donald J. Corleone had nothing to do with that at all,&34; the comedian quipped. By Wesley Stenzel :maxbytes(150000):stripicc()/WesleyStenzelauthorphoto32b61793a2784639af623f2ae091477e.jpg) Wesley Stenzel is a news writer at . He began writing for EW in 2022. EW's editorial guidelines on February 5, 2026 2:39 p.m.

"I'm sure Donald J. Corleone had nothing to do with that at all," the comedian quipped.

Jimmy Kimmel calls out 'sus' box office for Melania doc: 'We need to get to the bottom of this'

"I'm sure Donald J. Corleone had nothing to do with that at all," the comedian quipped.

By Wesley Stenzel

Wesley Stenzel is a news writer at **. He began writing for EW in 2022.

EW's editorial guidelines

on February 5, 2026 2:39 p.m. ET

Jimmy Kimmel on 'Jimmy Kimmel Live'; Melania Trump in 'Melania'. Credit:

Disney/Randy Holmes; Muse Films

- Jimmy Kimmel is calling the *Melania* documentary's $7 million opening weekend into question.

- The *Jimmy Kimmel Live* host suggested that the film's box office numbers were "boosted by bulk ticket purchases that were handed out to people."

- Kimmel added, "I'm sure Donald J. Corleone had nothing to do with that at all."

Jimmy Kimmel doesn't think Melania Trump has $7 million worth of fans.

The comedian targeted* Melania*, the new documentary about the first lady, during his monologue on *Jimmy Kimmel Live* on Wednesday night.

"Allegedly they exceeded box office expectations," Kimmel said of the Brett Ratner–directed doc, which was originally projected to make just $1 million-$2 million before industry insiders bumped their projections up to $2 million-$5 million. "They had the best opening for a non-musical documentary in 10 years, which I think is a fancy way of saying it only lost *tens* of millions of dollars." (Indeed, $7 million is a far cry from the $75 million that Amazon MGM reportedly spent on acquiring and promoting the project.)

Kimmel said he didn't understand "how this movie managed to sell $7 million worth of tickets" in its opening weekend "when almost every theater seemed to be empty leading up to the release."

Jimmy Kimmel on 'Jimmy Kimmel Live'.

Disney/Randy Holmes

The comedian went on to argue that the film's box office stats may have been padded by unusual group purchases. "There are reports now suggesting that those beautiful box office numbers may have been boosted by bulk ticket purchases that were handed out to people for free," he said. "And if you don't believe this is the kind of thing they would do, you may be forgetting that back in 2019, the Republican National Committee bought $100,000 worth of Don Jr.'s book to put in swag bags to make it a *New York Times* best-seller."

To Kimmel's point, the *New York Times* reported that the RNC spent $94,800 on Donald Trump Jr.'s book *Triggered* the week before it was released. "Don Jr.'s book debuted No. 1 on the *New York Times* best-seller list despite the fact that no one has ever read it," Kimmel quipped. "No one has ever even opened that book. It might be filled with white pages. We'll never know."

Michelle Obama documentary 'Becoming' spikes on Netflix as 'Melania' hits theaters

White House holds private screening of Amazon's 'Melania' doc for guests including director Brett Ratner, Mike Tyson

Kimmel later claimed, "Sources say there were signs that blocks of tickets to *Melania* were purchased and then distributed to Republican activists and senior citizens' homes — which are really the same thing."

Box office analyst Tom Brueggemann reported that "industry sources say there were signs that blocs of tickets were purchased for the weekend, then distributed to senior citizen homes, Republican [activists], other interested parties for free to help boost audiences." ** has reached out to Amazon MGM for further information.

Donald Trump and Melania Trump in Washington, D.C. on Jan. 29, 2026.

Dimitrios Kambouris/Getty

Later in his monologue, Kimmel reiterated that he remains suspicious about the box office results for *Melania*. "It's all very sus, as the kids like to say. Do the kids still say 'sus'?" he asked. "As of tonight, *Melania* has a score of 5% on Rotten Tomatoes from the critics. That is very low. To put that in perspective, that is 1% lower than *Gigli*, okay? But that's just what the loser and hater critics had to say. The audience score for *Melania* is 99% positive. Which is 1% higher than *The Godfather*. And I'm sure Donald J. Corleone had nothing to do with that at all."

***Get your daily dose of entertainment news, celebrity updates, and what to watch with our EW Dispatch newsletter.***

Kimmel continued, "We need to get to the bottom of this. Send in Tulsi Gabbard and the FBI. Seize the ticket machines, the popcorn buckets, the box office receipts at every multiplex in America."

Watch Kimmel's full monologue above.**

Original Article on Source

Source: "EW Late"

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Source: Late

Published: February 07, 2026 at 09:38AM on Source: MARIO MAG

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