Melania did better at the box office than some prognosticators expected. Now, one industry expert is claiming ticket sales have been intentionally bolstered through possibly nefarious means.

Amazon MGM’s $75 million documentary about the first lady made $7 million on its opening weekend, eliciting both gloating headlines and skepticism. Many have already touted Melania, which traces the first lady’s activities in the days leading up to her husband’s 2025 inauguration, as a success.

But according to box-office expert and former IndieWire Editor Tom Brueggemann, there are signs of “fake ticket sales” in order to inflate the earnings associated with the documentary. He raised the possibility that tickets were bought in bulk and handed out to audiences—or not handed out at all.

These allegations were made in Brueggemann’s Substack and reported on by Puck writer Matthew Belloni in his newsletter about Hollywood and power.

Belloni says that Amazon and cinema groups AMC and Regal told him that they “did not experience unusual block purchases of tickets" for the film. “The theater chains might not necessarily know, of course,” Belloni reported. “And veteran box office tracker Tom Brueggemann noted on his Substack that ‘industry sources say there were signs that blocks of tickets were purchased for the weekend, then distributed to senior citizen homes, Republican activists, other interested parties for free to help boost audiences.’"

Brueggemann dissected box-office sales for Melania, noting an uptick in ticket purchases last Wednesday, two days before the film was set to release in theaters. Prior to its release, Melania Trump’s project was expected to perform abysmally in cinemas worldwide.

According to Brueggemann, there was “some outside group ticket buying” that helped elevate the film’s performance. He caveated that the “documentation” on these claims is “sketchy.”

“But 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,” he continued, adding that we may “never know.”

The Daily Beast has reached out to Brueggemann, Amazon, and Melania Trump’s representatives for comment.

The claims follow a viral Craigslist ad offering free tickets and $50 to watch the Melania documentary at any theater in Boston. “Must remain in seats for entirety of film,” read the ad, posted on Jan. 28.