"We received a phone call" US cinema operator takes the piss out of "Melania" - Amazon promptly complains
This joke made waves: A US cinema operator mocked "Melania" in an advertisement. Amazon then took action. The cinema operator is not intimidated by this.
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- Humor does not seem to be widespread in Amazon's management team: A US cinema operator's harmless joke about the movie "Melania" prompted the company to lodge a complaint.
- As a result, Amazon withdrew the screening rights to the film from the cinema in Lake Oswego on the opening weekend.
- Cinema operator Jordan Perry took it with humor: he had only earned 196 dollars with "Melania" to date anyway.
40 million US dollars for the rights and an additional 35 million US dollars for the marketing campaign: Amazon spent a lot on the cinema documentary "Melania".
Internationally, the production was punished in cinemas, but it got off to a respectable start at home: Melania earned seven million dollars in the USA and Canada on its launch weekend. The last time a documentary movie had a better start was 14 years ago.
The "Lake Theater and Cafe" in Lake Oswego contributed almost nothing to this figure. Nevertheless, the cinema has now made it into the headlines - and onto Amazon's red list.
When "Melania" was released, the theater advertised the film with a provocative ad. "To defeat your enemy, you have to know him. 'Melania' opens on Friday", it read.
Film fans protested against the cinema for showing "Melania"
Amazon was less amused by such jokes at the expense of the new prestige project. "We received a call that the higher-ups (at Amazon) were upset about how our poster advertised their movie," the cinema revealed on Instagram on Monday. As a consequence of the cheeky slogan, Amazon revoked the cinema 's screening rights on the opening weekend.
Cinema operator Jordan Perry had no problem with this, as "Oregon Live" reports. Even before the complaint from Amazon arrived, the film had been very poorly received by moviegoers. What's more, the cinema informed us via Instagram that it had received countless "emails, voicemails and Google/Yelp reviews". Many of them expressed incomprehension that Melania was being shown at all in the cinema in the town of 40,000 inhabitants.
After the seemingly harmless joke made such waves, Perry tried to explain on the movie theater's website. "Financially speaking, the film market was a desert that week and the next," he said, describing his intention to give "Melania" a chance. Film alternatives were rare and his own curiosity about "this inexplicable vanity work by the wife of the current president" was great.
"Melania" only grosses 196 dollars
However, Perry was largely alone in this interest - at least at the Lake Theater and Cafe.
"We donated a total of $196 to the Jeff Bezos Trust Fund this week (far more to the Hamnet Trust Fund, thank you, Hamnet lovers)," Perry quipped about the poor ticket sales at his theater. "Jeff Bezos won't notice the 196 dollars." The cinema manager also suggested that he might now be "on Amazon's blacklist".
It also seemed important to Perry to emphasize that he does not plan his cinema program from a political point of view. "I don't think Melania is the enemy, I don't think she's the devil," he wrote in his statement. He also did not want to blame Donald Trump for the national divide, although Perry said: "I think Trump is taking advantage of her."
