Along with Gerta Gerwig’s “Barbie” and Beyonce’s “Renaissance Tour,” Taylor Swift‘s “The Eras Tour” was credited with contributing billions of dollars to the U.S. economy this year. Well, the Grammy Award winner isn’t done helping keep America out of a recession. On Thursday afternoon, the “Taylor Swift: The Eras Tour” concert film will debut in over 3,850 theaters and is on track to score an incredible $100-120 million opening in the U.S. And whatever your personal feelings about the polarizing Ms. Swift, that’s an incredible win for theater owners who were left with a shell of a fall release schedule after “Challengers” and “Dune, Part II” moved to 2024.
READ MORE: “Renaissance: A Film By Beyonce” Releases Trailer And Sets Dec. 1 Release
“The Eras Tour” has already become the highest-grossing concert film of all time after reaching $100 million in advance ticket sales globally last week. That surpasses “Justin Bieber: Never Say Never,” which earned $99 million worldwide in 2011. Industry tracking suggests the film should crack the year-end top 10, surpassing “Sound of Freedom” and “John Wick: Chapter 4” and, potentially, “Ant-Man: Quantumania’s” $214 million tally domestically. The opening weekend could crack the top five highest openings of 2023, potentially beating all Marvel films released this year if it surpasses “Guardians Of The Galaxy Vol. 3” and its $118.4 million opening bow.
Somehow, always using her leverage to change the game, Swift bypassed the traditional studio system and made a deal to distribute the concert film directly with AMC Theaters (and, no, the major studios were not thrilled at this development). That movie alone will pocket her at least 50% of the gross receipts. The deal worked because AMC was willing to work with its competitors and theater owners overseas to book the movie. At this point, industry estimates have the movie potentially earning over $170 million globally in its first three days.
Swift’s deal was the framework for Beyonce Knowles to make an agreement with AMC for her own concert film, “Renaissance: A Film By Beyonce” That highly anticipated movie will hit theaters on Dec. 1 and is expected to open to $20-25 million in what is traditionally a super slow box office weekend. Notably, both “The Eras Tour” movie and “Renaissance” were directed by Swift and Knowles, respectively.
A member of the Screen Actor’s Guild, Swift has landed a SAG-AFTRA interim agreement for the movie, which allows her to promote it during the ongoing strike. She’s set to appear at a massive world premiere at AMC Theaters at the Grove in Los Angeles this evening.