Movie theaters turned into concert venues this weekend as Swifties brought their dance moves and friendship bracelets to multiplexes across the country. The unparalleled enthusiasm helped propel 鈥淭aylor Swift: The Eras Tour鈥� to a massive, first place debut between $95 million and $97 million in North America, AMC Theatres said Sunday.
It鈥檚 easily the biggest opening for a concert film of all time, and, not accounting for inflation, has made more than the $73 million 鈥淛ustin Bieber: Never Say Never鈥� earned in 2011. In today鈥檚 dollars, that would be around $102 million. And if it comes in on the higher end of projections when totals are released Monday, it could be the biggest October opening ever. The one to beat is 鈥淛oker,鈥� which launched to $96.2 million in 2019.
A , premium pricing, star power and loose movie theater etiquette鈥攎ore dancing and shouting than a Star Wars premiere鈥攈ave made it an undeniable hit. Compiled from Swift鈥檚 summer shows at Southern California鈥檚 SoFi Stadium, the film opened in 3,855 North American locations starting with 鈥渟urprise鈥� Thursday evening previews. Those showtimes helped boost its opening day sum to $39 million 鈥� the second biggest ever for October, behind 鈥淛oker鈥檚鈥� $39.3 million.
鈥淭his is a phenomenal number,鈥� said Paul Dergarabedian, the senior media analyst for Comscore. 鈥淭o have a blockbuster style opening weekend for a concert film is unprecedented.鈥�
Swift, who produced the film, went around the Hollywood studio system to distribute the film, making a deal directly with AMC, the largest exhibition company in the United States. With her 274 million Instagram followers, Swift hardly needed a traditional marketing campaign to get the word out.
Beyonc茅 made a similar deal with the exhibitor for 鈥� 鈥� which will open on Dec. 1. The two superstars posed together at the premiere of 鈥淭he Eras Tour鈥� earlier this week in Los Angeles. It was a needed injection of star power with Hollywood actors over that has left most red carpets void of glamourous talent and resulted in several high-profile films being pushed to next year.
鈥淭he Eras Tour,鈥� directed by Sam Wrench, is not just playing on AMC screens either. The company, based in Leawood, Kansas, worked with sub-distribution partners Variance Films, Trafalgar Releasing, Cinepolis and Cineplex to show the film in more than 8,500 movie theatres globally in 100 countries.
The spotlight on Swift has been especially intense lately as a result of her with tight end Travis Kelce. The two made separate surprise appearances on 鈥淪aturday Night Live鈥� this weekend and were also photographed holding hands in New York.
It led to some hyperbolic projections going into the weekend, with some analysts predicting that 鈥淭he Eras Tour鈥� could make over $125 million. Dergarabedian said it鈥檚 common for outsized expectations to be attached to massive brands like Swift. There鈥檚 also no precedent for something like 鈥淭he Eras Tour鈥� and a celebrity of Swift鈥檚 stature.
鈥淭he laws of gravity don鈥檛 apply to Taylor Swift,鈥� Dergarabedian said.
The film scored well with both and audiences, who gave it an A+ CinemaScore, a metric that typically signals a film will continue to do well after its first weekend.
Elizabeth Frank, the executive vice president of worldwide programming and chief content officer for AMC Theatres, said in a statement that they are grateful to Taylor Swift.
鈥淗er spectacular performance delighted fans, who dressed up and danced through the film,鈥� Frank said. 鈥淲ith tremendous recommendations and fans buying tickets to see this concert film several times, we anticipate 鈥楾aylor Swift: The Eras Tour鈥� concert film playing to big audiences for weeks to come.鈥�
The stadium tour, which continues internationally, famously crashed Ticketmaster鈥檚 site and re-sale prices became astronomical. Pollstar projects that it will earn some $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 higher than the national average, at $19.89, which references her birth year and 2014 album, and ran closer to $29 a pop for premium large format screens like IMAX. Even so, they are significantly less than seat at one of the stadium shows.
Showtimes are also more limited than a standard Hollywood blockbuster, but AMC is guaranteeing at least four a day on Thursdays, Fridays, Saturdays, and Sundays at all AMC locations in the U.S. Many locations also specified that there are no refunds or exchanges. And fans will have to wait a while for 鈥淭he Eras Tour鈥� to be available on streaming 鈥� part of the AMC deal was a 13-week exclusive theatrical run.
Michael O鈥橪eary, CEO of the National Association of Theater Owners said in a statement the moment was, 鈥淎nother landmark weekend for cinemas.鈥�
鈥淭his year has been marked by unprecedented experiences for movie lovers in theaters across this nation,鈥� O鈥橪eary continued in a statement. 鈥淭he 鈥楨ras Tour鈥� debut proves, yet again, that fans are eager to share other experiences in a communal way, with theater owners working creatively to build memorable moments in their cinemas.鈥�
O鈥橪eary said that a survey of 6,000 people by his organization and The Cinema Foundation found that 72% want to see more concert films on the big screen.
鈥淭he Eras Tour鈥� accounted for over 70% of the total weekend box office grosses. 鈥淭he Exorcist: Believer鈥� placed a very distant second in its second weekend with $11 million, followed by the 鈥淧aw Patrol鈥� movie in third with $7 million. Rounding out the top five was 鈥淪aw X鈥� with $5.7 million and 鈥淭he Creator鈥� with $4.3 million.
鈥淭his is great news for theaters,鈥� Dergarabedian said. 鈥溾�橳he Eras Tour鈥� wasn鈥檛 even on our radar in mid-August. You take this out of the equation and it would have been a totally different weekend.鈥�
Estimated ticket sales for Friday through Sunday at U.S. and Canadian theaters, according to Comscore. Final domestic figures will be released Monday.
1. 鈥淭aylor Swift: The Eras Tour,鈥� $95 to $97 million.
2. 鈥淭he Exorcist: Believer,鈥� $11 million.
3. 鈥淧aw Patrol: The Mighty Movie,鈥� $7 million.
4. 鈥淪aw X,鈥� $5.7 million.
5. 鈥淭he Creator,鈥� $4.3 million.
6. 鈥淎 Haunting in Venice,鈥� $2.1 million.
7. 鈥淭he Blind,鈥� $2 million.
8. 鈥淭he Nun II,鈥� $1.6 million.
9. 鈥淭he Equalizer 3,鈥� $960,000.
10. 鈥淒umb Money,鈥� $920,000.
