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Michelle Obama ‘Becoming’ documentary sees viewership spike amid ‘Melania’ release

Nearly six years after its May 6, 2020 premiere, Michelle Obama's documentary Becoming re-entered Netflix's Daily Top 10 in the United States this week, Newsweek reported.
Across TikTok, Threads and X, users urged mass streaming of Becoming, pushing hashtags and coordinated posts that boosted its visibility in the Netflix algorithm.
Luminate's figures show a dramatic weekend spike as viewership rose more than 13,000 percent to 47.5 million minutes during the Jan. 30-Feb. 1 weekend for Higher Ground Productions' 89-minute documentary directed by Nadia Hallgren, following Michelle Obama on her 34-city tour.
The spike appears to have boosted the film's visibility in Netflix's algorithm, which favors recent viewing velocity, and brought fresh eyes to the 2018 memoir, which has sold more than 10 million copies and logged roughly 1.5 million views between 2023 and 2025.
Despite a theatrical rollout, Amazon MGM's Melania opened to $7.1 million over Jan. 30-Feb. 1, against a $40 million budget and is expected to lose over $40 million.

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The Anti-‘Melania’ Effect: Michelle Obama Doc ‘Becoming’ Surges in Viewership

The Netflix documentary of the former first lady soared to 47.5 million minutes viewed on the same weekend the Trump movie bowed.

4 hours ago·Los Angeles, United States

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The Hill

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Michelle Obama ‘Becoming’ documentary sees viewership spike amid ‘Melania’ release

The release of “Melania” appears to have given a boost to another first lady: Michelle Obama’s 2020 documentary “Becoming” saw a huge surge in viewers the same weekend that Melania Trump’s film hit theaters. Viewership in the U.S. for the 2020 Netflix documentary focused on Obama spiked by a whopping 13,300 percent last weekend compared…

5 hours ago·Washington, United States

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