Movie posters for the documentary “Melania” featuring U.S. first lady Melania Trump are displayed in a subway station in New York. Amazon’s “Melania” earned $7 million in domestic box office sales during its debut weekend, the highest opening for a nonmusic documentary in over a decade. Documentaries typically gross $10-20 million worldwide, but “Melania” exceeded expectations with strong audience response.

Michael Moore’s “Fahrenheit 9/11” holds the record for the highest-opening political documentary with $23.9 million, also boasting the highest domestic haul for a political documentary with $119 million. Amazon MGM Studios is encouraged by the positive audience response to “Melania,” seeing it as a first step in a long-tail lifecycle for the film and forthcoming docu-series on their service.

The Melania Trump documentary was acquired by Amazon for an estimated $40 million, with reports indicating a similar marketing budget. Ticket sales were driven by women and moviegoers over 55, with rural theaters accounting for 46% of total box office grosses. EntTelligence estimates that 600,000 moviegoers saw the film over the weekend, with strong audience reviews but scathing critic responses.

Read more at CNBC: ‘Melania’ documentary posts $7 million domestic opening