Melania Trump adviser Marc Beckman compared the performance of her documentary with Tom Cruise’s Digger, arguing that Melania: Twenty Days to History performed better on a per-theater basis.
The comparison drew ridicule online, with social media users questioning whether outperforming another poorly performing movie provided much reason to celebrate.
Marc Beckman claims Melania Trump’s documentary outperformed Tom Cruise’s Digger per theater
Beckman shared the box-office comparison on X, claiming Melania had an advantage despite playing in fewer theaters.
“On a per-theater basis, MELANIA outperformed Tom Cruise’s DIGGER by approximately 67%, despite opening in roughly half as many theaters,” he wrote.
Beckman added that Digger played in 1,543 more theaters than Melania.
The Brett Ratner-directed Melania Trump documentary chronicled the period leading up to Donald Trump’s second inauguration. It earned $16.7 million during its theatrical run.
According to OK! Magazine, Amazon reportedly paid $40 million for the documentary and spent another $35 million marketing it.
Meanwhile, Alejandro González Iñárritu directed Digger, which starred Cruise as an aging oil magnate. The movie reportedly cost $160 million and earned $8 million domestically and $20 million worldwide during its opening weekend.
Beckman’s emphasis on the per-theater numbers sparked sarcastic responses online.
“Hilarious spin,” one X user wrote before criticizing the comparison between the two films.
Another commenter mocked the achievement, writing, “So it outperformed one of the biggest bombs ever? Quite an achievement, being slightly less of a bomb.”
A different user accused Beckman of having to “twist” the numbers to present the result favorably. Another commenter argued that comparing the films based on their theater counts created a misleading impression of their broader box-office performances.
The debate came after Melania debuted at No. 3 during its opening weekend, behind Send Help and Iron Lung. The supplied source also described it as the strongest opening for a non-music documentary in more than a decade.
Still, Beckman’s 67% per-theater claim became the main talking point as critics mocked the attempted comparison with Cruise’s Digger.
