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Movie theaters turned into concert venues this weekend as Swifties brought their dance moves and friendship bracelets to movie theaters across the country. Unparalleled enthusiasm helped propel “Taylor Swift: The Eras Tour” to a whopping $95 million to $97 million in first place in North America, AMC Theaters said Sunday.
It’s the biggest concert film opening of all time, and not accounting for inflation, it grossed more than the $73 million earned by “Justin Bieber: Never Say Never” in 2011. In today’s dollars, that would be about $102 million. And if it comes in at the top end of forecasts when totals are announced on Monday, it could be the biggest October opener yet. The one to beat is “Joker,” which made $96.2 million in 2019.
A unique experience in distribution, premium pricing, star power, and lax movie theater etiquette—more dancing and shouting than a Star Wars premiere—made it an undeniable hit. The film, compiled from Swift’s summer shows at SoFi Stadium in Southern California, opened at 3,855 venues in North America, starting with “surprise” previews on Thursday evening. These showing hours helped push its opening day total to $39 million; that was the second-biggest haul of October, behind “Joker’s” $39.3 million.
Internationally, it is estimated to have earned between $31 million and $33 million, putting its global total in the range of $126 million to $130 million.
“That’s a phenomenal number,” said Paul Dergarabedian, Comscore’s senior media analyst. “Having a blockbuster opening weekend for a concert film is unprecedented.”
Swift, who produced the film, went around the Hollywood studio system to distribute the film and made a direct deal with AMC, the largest exhibition company in the United States. With 274 million Instagram followers, Swift didn’t really need a traditional marketing campaign to get the word out.
Beyoncé made a similar deal with the exhibitor for “Renaissance: A Film by Beyoncé,” opening Dec. 1. The two superstars posed together at “The Eras Tour” premiere in Los Angeles earlier this week. It was a necessary injection of Hollywood actors’ star power for 90 days amid a strike that left most red carpets devoid of glamorous talent and resulted in a number of high-profile movies being pushed to next year.
“The Eras Tour”, directed by Sam Wrench, is not only shown on AMC screens. Headquartered in Leawood, Kansas, the company worked with sub-distribution partners Variance Films, Trafalgar Releasing, Cinepolis and Cineplex to release the film in more than 8,500 theaters in 100 countries worldwide.
The spotlight on Swift has been particularly intense lately as a result of her relationship with Kansas City Chiefs tight end Travis Kelce. The duo made separate surprise appearances on “Saturday Night Live” this weekend and were also photographed holding hands in New York.
This led to some exaggerated predictions heading into the weekend, with some analysts estimating that the “Eras Tour” could bring in over $125 million. Dergarabedian said it’s common to place overly high expectations on big brands like Swift. There’s also no precedent for something like “The Eras Tour” and a celebrity of Swift’s stature.
“The laws of gravity do not apply to Taylor Swift,” Dergarabedian said.
The film was well-rated by critics and audiences alike, who gave the film an A+ CinemaScore; it’s a metric that often signals that a movie will continue to perform well beyond its first weekend.
Elizabeth Frank, vice president of worldwide programming and chief content officer of AMC Theaters, said in a statement that they were grateful to Taylor Swift.
“Her amazing performance delighted fans who dressed up and danced throughout the movie,” Frank said. “With tremendous recommendations and fans purchasing tickets to watch this concert film over and over again, we expect the ‘Taylor Swift: The Eras Tour’ concert film to meet huge audiences in the coming weeks.”
The international stadium tour crashed Ticketmaster’s site and resale prices reached astronomical levels. Pollstar estimates it will earn about $1.4 billion. The concert film offered fans both better seats and a much more affordable way to see the show for the first or fifth time. Prices are above the national average at $19.89, referencing her birth year and 2014 album, and approaching $29 a pop for premium large-format screens like IMAX. Even so, the number of seats at one of the stadium shows is significantly less.
Showtimes are also more limited than a standard Hollywood blockbuster, but AMC guarantees a minimum of four showings per day on Thursdays, Fridays, Saturdays and Sundays at all AMC locations in the US. It was also stated that refunds or exchanges are not offered in many locations. And fans will have to wait a while before “The Eras Tour” can be streamed; Part of the AMC deal was a 13-week exclusive theatrical release.
Michael O’Leary, CEO of the National Association of Theater Owners, said in a statement that this moment was “another landmark weekend for filmmakers.”
“This year has been marked by unprecedented experiences for moviegoers in this country,” O’Leary continued in a statement. “The debut of the ‘Eras Tour’ once again proves that fans are eager to share other experiences in common, with the participation of theater owners working creatively to create unforgettable moments in movie theaters.”
O’Leary said a survey of 6,000 people by his organization and the Cinema Foundation found that 72 percent of respondents wanted to see more concert films on the big screen.
“Eras Tour” accounted for more than 70% of the weekend’s total box office. “The Exorcist: Believer” came in a pretty clear second place with $11 million in its second weekend, followed by “Paw Patrol” in third place with $7 million. The top five were “Saw X” with $5.7 million and “The Creator” with $4.3 million.
“This is great news for theaters,” Dergarabedian said. “The ‘Eras Tour’ wasn’t even on our radar in mid-August. “If you take that out of the equation it would be a completely different weekend.”
Estimated ticket sales at U.S. and Canadian theaters from Friday through Sunday, according to Comscore. Final domestic figures will be announced on Monday.
1. “Taylor Swift: Eras Tour,” $95 million to $97 million.
2. “The Devil: The Believer,” $11 million.
3. “Paw Patrol: The Powerful Movie,” $7 million.
4. “I Saw X,” $5.7 million.
5. “The Creator,” $4.3 million.
6. “A Haunted in Venice,” $2.1 million.
7. “Blind,” $2 million.
8. “Sister II,” $1.6 million.
9. “Equalizer 3,” $960,000.
10. “Dumb Money,” $920,000.
