Taylor Swift takes the theatrical box office by storm this weekend with “Taylor Swift: The Eras Tour.” And with $100 million made already in pre-sales, it’s the highest-grossing concert film of all-time before its opening weekend comes to a close. But EW reports that “Deadpool 3” director Shawn Levy thinks this is only the beginning of cinematic success for the pop star icon. In fact, Levy thinks Swift has potential to do special things behind the camera, likening her instincts as a director to Steven Spielberg.
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Is that high praise or hogwash from Levy? In an interview for his new Netflix series “All The Light We Cannot See,” the director discussed his time working with Swift on the music video she directed for “All Too Well: The Short Film.” And from Levy’s perspective, Swift has that “it” factor. “Taylor has not consulted me about upcoming directing projects, but I think she has the makings of a hell of a director,” Levy said about Swift and her upcoming plans to direct her first feature film. Levy starred alongside “Stranger Things” actress Sadie Swift in Swift’s music video, but the short was enough to convince Levy of the musician’s talents behind the camera.
Levi went on to call Swift a “generational voice and creative force” in the entertainment industry. And if Swift finds success directing films, she could become a pop icon of supreme cultural influence: bigger than Kanye West at the height of his powers, or Beyoncé. “That list is short,” said of generational talents like Swift. “Taylor, the depth of her vision for how she wants a creative piece to be, whether it’s a lyric, a melody, a bridge, a concert tour, a video, it’s profound. It’s profoundly vivid, and she has the strength of her convictions.”
But is Swift’s potential as a director on par with Steven Spielberg? Levi truly thinks so. “Spielberg was on the set of a movie he produced that I directed, called “Real Steel,” and I said to him, ‘How do you know it’s the right shot?’ His answer was, ‘The way you see it, that makes it right,'” Levi continued. “I feel like that’s something Taylor Swift has figured out really well, because that’s about trusting your instinct.”
Movie audiences will see if Swift trusting her instincts pays off fairly soon. Last December, Searchlight Pictures announced Swift would direct her first feature from a screenplay she also writes. That’s a big step-up from directing music videos, but Swift has already proven savvy at that: she’s won two MTV VMA Awards for Best Director, for “All Too Well: The Short Film” and her music video for “The Man.”
Obviously, work on Swift’s feature debut is stalled due to the SAG-AFTRA guild strike. But the early success of “Taylor Swift: The Eras Tour” proves that her jump to big screen success may be more seamless than anyone truly realizes. So maybe Mr. Levy isn’t spouting hogwash after all: Taylor Swift very well may be the multi-hyphenate artist of our generation.