Though much tragedy was happening abroad over the weekend, much was also happening at the world box office of a considerably lighter tone, as pop star Taylor Swift’s “Eras Tour” concert film kicked off and raked in the largest opening ever for a concert film.
The film was hyped from the start, with Swift’s tour having dominated concert venues across America and many more wanting to go than were able to do so. As a result, there was huge, pent-up demand for the film, demand that swamped theaters around the world.
In fact, the film, which has an incredible 100 percent fresh rating on Rotten Tomatoes and scored an A+ from Cinemascore, managed to bring in an incredible $92.8 million in North America and $30.7 million internationally, meaning that its first weekend managed to bring in $123.5 million globally.
That was, however, slightly below expectations. Sunday’s estimates expected that it would bring in $95 million to $97 million domestically and $126 million to $130 million worldwide, but, still, the figure is wildly impressive.
Making it even more impressive is that it is the second-best domestic October release ever, beat out only by “Joker,” which brought in $96 million domestically. It is also the best-ever concert film at the box office, as it easily beat the previous record of $73 million, set by Justin Bieber’s Never Say Never concert film over the course of its entire 2011 run.
AMC, which released the film, announced before the weekend began that demand for it was incredibly strong, saying, “AMC Theatres Distribution and AMC Entertainment® (NYSE:AMC), the largest theatrical exhibitor in the United States and the world, today announced that as of October 4, TAYLOR SWIFT | THE ERAS TOUR concert film had sold more than $100 million in advance tickets globally. On October 13, TAYLOR SWIFT | THE ERAS TOUR concert film will start playing in most of the confirmed 8,500 theatres across 100 countries around the world.”
It continued, “Audience demand for TAYLOR SWIFT | THE ERAS TOUR concert film has been incredible from the moment it was first announced. It took less than 24 hours for the TAYLOR SWIFT | THE ERAS TOUR concert film to shatter AMC’s U.S. record for the highest ticket-sales revenue during a single day in AMC’s 103-year history. Advanced ticket sales are strong across the United States, from the largest cities to the smallest towns, and are particularly strong in premium large-screen formats like IMAX, Dolby Cinema, PRIME at AMC and other branded premium experiences.”
AMC Theatres’ chief content officer Elizabeth Frank, thanking Swift for bringing big audiences back to theaters, said, “Her spectacular performance delighted fans, who dressed up and danced through the film. With tremendous recommendations and fans buying tickets to see this concert film several times, we anticipate ‘Taylor Swift: The Eras Tour’ concert film playing to big audiences for weeks to come.”
Swift, for her part, hyped the film up on premier day in a post on X, saying, “🩵 PREMIERE DAY 🩵 Andddd I can’t really wrap my head around this but…. Look what you genuinely made me do: Due to unprecedented demand we’re opening up early access showings of The Eras Tour Concert Film on THURSDAY in America and Canada!! As in… TOMORROW. We’re also adding additional showtimes Friday and throughout the weekend. All tickets will be available by 10am tomorrow morning. And it’ll be showing starting Friday in 90 countries all over the world. I can’t thank you enough for wanting to see this film that so vividly captures my favorite adventure I’ve ever been a part of: The Eras Tour. And the best part is, it’s an adventure we’re still on together. 🫶 Getting in the car now…“
Featured image credit: By iHeartRadioCA, CC BY 3.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=137551448
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