Swifties are gearing up for what is expected to be a groundbreaking debut weekend for Swift’s upcoming movie.
In the past couple of years, the movie business has transformed. Audience preferences have changed, and the pandemic-related production delays that left the movie calendar bare have only been exacerbated by two Hollywood strikes.
AMC, Regal, and Cinemark theater chains are anxiously searching for original goods as would-be blockbusters depart the autumn and winter slate as a direct result of strike regulations that prevent top actors from promoting upcoming films. Even IMAX, which was originally a venue for documentaries and educational programming, might gain from alternative theatrical content.
Taylor Swift is no stranger to breaking records, and as soon as Taylor Swift: The Eras Tour Concert Film was announced and pre-sale tickets were available, the singer immediately began shattering sales records once again. The concert film, compiled from several Swift shows at Southern California’s SoFi Stadium, is expected to launch with $100 million, or possibly more. Advance ticket sales worldwide have already surpassed $100 million.
Swift’s movie won’t likely eclipse Barbie’s $1 billion global gross, but its rumored budget of $10 to $20 million will make it one of the most popular movies this year. Swifties are a force of nature, and the popularity of her concert movie is all but certain thanks to their devoted fan base. It is expected to earn $100 million at the box office in its first weekend alone, presumably without the need for an expensive marketing effort.
Concert films, of course, aren’t anything new. Just last month, the Talking Heads classic “Stop Making Sense” returned to theaters for a decades-later encore. But “The Eras Tour” heralds something new and potentially game-changing in the movie industry.
Movie theaters are increasingly not just a marquee of movie showtimes but a big-screen stage for a variety of visual media. BTS earlier this year released a concert film, with higher ticket prices and limited showtimes. The Metropolitan Opera has for years done popular live broadcasts in theaters.
Meanwhile, “Taylor Swift: The Eras Tour” is poised to become the biggest concert film ever in about two days of release. Not accounting for inflation, 2011’s “Justin Bieber: Never Say Never” holds that mark with $73.1 million across its entire run. Accounting for inflation, it will be harder for “The Eras Tour” to catch “Woodstock,” which grossed $50 million in 1970, a total that translates to nearly $400 million today.
