RADIOHEAD STAR DEMANDS MUSIC IS REMOVED FROM 'ROTTEN' MELANIA DOCUMENTARY
Melania Trump’s documentary has been off to a rocky start with critics panning the ‘propaganda’ while fans praised the First Lady of the United States.
Now, Radiohead’s Jonny Greenwood has pushed back against the use of his music in the controversial Amazon MGM Studios and Universal project.
A segment of music from 2017’s Phantom Thread is used in the documentary, but the musician claimed he was not consulted.
The Creep guitarist and the film’s director, Paul Thomas Anderson, have alleged that this amounts to a breach of his composer agreement.
‘It has come to our attention that a piece of music from Phantom Thread has been used in the Melania documentary,’ the men said in a joint statement to Variety.
The song Barbara Rose reportedly features, having been composed for the period thriller, which starred Daniel Day-Lewis and Lesley Manville.
Phantom Thread swept up Oscar nods for best picture, best director, best actor, best supporting actress, and best original score, as well as winning for the costume design.
Outside of the Radiohead reunion concerts, Jonny has become a regular composer, having worked on the likes of One Battle After Another and There Will Be Blood.
Jonny’s attorneys noted that although he does not own the copyright to the soundtrack, an agreement over future use was in place.
They shared: ‘Universal failed to consult Jonny on this third-party use, which is a breach of his composer agreement. As a result, Jonny and Paul Thomas Anderson have asked for it to be removed from the documentary.’
The British musician has not spoken publicly about Trump or the current US government, although some have taken this action as a signifier of political stance.
Melania’s opening weekend box office grossed around $7,000,000 (£5,000,000) in North America with a further $2.5million (£1.8million) the following weekend.
It faced a 67% drop off rate for the second weekend, although it was competing with the Super Bowl, a traditionally slow day for cinemas.
The documentary focuses on her life in the 20 days leading up to her husband Donald Trump’s second term re-election.
The US President is clearly a fan of the Brett Ratner-directed release as he enthusiastically described it as a ‘MUST WATCH’.
However, many reviewers have said there’s very little of the former Apprentice star in the documentary, save for phone calls and passing chats.
As expected, Melania has had an incredibly divisive reaction with critics giving it an absymal 10% on Rotten Tomatoes, putting it firmly in the ‘rotten’ category.
Meanwhile, viewers’ reactions have managed to amount to 99% on the popcorn meter, at the time of writing, prompting a response from the review aggregator site.
In a statement for The Hollywood Reporter, the website said: ‘There has been NO manipulation on the audience reviews for the Melania documentary.
‘Reviews displayed on the Popcornmeter are VERIFIED reviews, meaning it has been verified that users have bought a ticket to the film through Fandango.’
Some fans praised her as ‘the epitome of style, grace and elegance’ in their assessment of the film, while another claimedthe ‘sold out’ theatre burst into applause at the end.
Metro’s writer Kimberley Bond had a very different view at a near-empty UK cinema, calling it downright ‘bad’.
She described it as ‘vacuous, empty, and devoid of any emotional heft’, declaring ‘even propaganda is usually less dull than this’.
The documentary has cost more than any other in history, with a lavish $40 million (£29million) just to buy the film, then a further $35 million (£25million) on theatrical marketing.
Metro has reached out to Amazon MGM Studios and Universal for comment.
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