Taylor Swift: The Eras Tour Already Smashed A Major Box Office Record In A Single Weekend
In another remarkable turn in a year full of unlikely box office heroes, pop star Taylor Swift is now the heroine of the fall moviegoing season. As expected, her concert film "Taylor Swift: The Eras Tour" became a bonafide blockbuster when it hit theaters over the weekend. It scored one of the biggest domestic openings of 2023 thus far and, in the process, shattered a longstanding box office record. Move over Justin Beiber because the Swifties have booted you off the top of the mountain.
"The Eras Tour" took in a wildly impressive $97 million over the weekend in North America alone, per estimates from The Numbers. That's to say nothing of the international numbers. In a single weekend, Swift has taken the crown and now owns the highest-grossing concert film ever domestically, passing "Justin Bieber: Never Say Never" ($73 million domestic/$99 million worldwide). That film was released in 2011 at the height of Bieber's initial fame wave, setting a high bar for what a concert film could do in theaters. Swift has shattered that in mere days.
Globally, Michael Jackson still owns the record with "This is It," which took in $261 million during its run back in 2009. Swift figures to topple that figure sooner rather than later. All the while, AMC Theatres is benefiting greatly from the whole thing. Not just because it's the largest theater chain (by far) in North America, but it's also directly distributing the film in a pretty unique, potentially groundbreaking deal. Swift decided to make a deal directly with AMC after meeting with several traditional studios. Beyonce soon followed suit and will release her own concert film in December through AMC. While the studios may be butthurt over it, this is very much a win that theater owners could use right now.
From Justin to Taylor
Looking at the bigger picture, it's astonishing just how big this ended up being. "Never Say Never" had a more traditional rollout and marketing campaign, opening to $29.5 million back in 2011. On the contrary, "The Eras Tour" was announced as a big surprise at the end of August, and AMC didn't mount a massive marketing campaign. A few TV spots and lots of online ads, but that was about it. We didn't have months of lead-up and a pricey marketing spend. It was just the power of Taylor Swift, tickets priced at a cool $19.89, and Swifties wanting to get in on the action that got the job done.
Looking ahead, the money figures to keep rolling in for weeks to come. AMC isn't playing the film exclusively, but other theaters that are carrying it had to agree to keep it on screens for a minimum of four weeks. That means Swift is going to enjoy at least three more weekends of ticket sales. Even if the film sees a sizable week-to-week drop-off, we're talking about a movie that had a budget in the $20 million range. Director Sam Wrench didn't spend a fortune to make the thing, and critics have been pretty kind (read our review here). All signs point to this being just the beginning of a much larger blockbuster run.
"Taylor Swift: The Eras Tour" is currently playing in theaters.