5 Reasons Taylor Swift: The Eras Tour Is A Box Office Juggernaut
The Fall season has been a little bit quiet at the box office thus far, save for a couple of horror hits like "Saw X" and "The Nun II." But Taylor Swift has changed all of that with her blockbuster "The Eras Tour" concert film. Swift unexpectedly announced in late August that her global hit tour was coming to movie theaters, allowing everyone the chance to see what all the fuss was about. The move was a major surprise, particularly because it was being distributed directly by AMC Theatres. It also worked like gangbusters, as the film posted one of the biggest opening weekends of the year.
"Taylor Swift: The Eras Tour" opened to $92.8 million, per The Numbers, making it instantly the highest-grossing concert film ever at the domestic box office in mere days. Yes, that number was a little below industry projections, which had it taking in $100 million or more in North America but, for a movie with a budget in the $20 million range, this is a ridiculous home run for all involved. Theaters have a much-needed hit, Swifties get to see the tour, and AMC is getting a healthy revenue boost. So, what went right? What transpired to let Taylor Swift dominate the box office like no musical artist had before? We're going to break down five key reasons for the film's success. Let's get into it.
Taylor Swift is, quite simply, very popular
This one isn't rocket science but the fact of the matter is that Taylor Swift is remarkably popular. And it's not just that she's popular now, but that she has been for about 15 years, or roughly since the release of her sophomore album "Fearless." Or, to put it another way, for just about as long as the Marvel Cinematic Universe has been a thing.
Swift isn't an artist who is cresting on a short wave of popularity — she's had enduring popularity for years and has sold more than 75 million albums worldwide. More importantly, Swift's fans are loyal as hell, and they show up when called upon. Case in point, they've now helped add conqueror of the box office to Swift's already impressive resume.
The buzz is extremely good
It felt very much like Swifties were going to turn up for "The Eras Tour" in theaters no matter what. But selling nearly $100 million worth of tickets in the U.S. alone in a three-day stretch requires reaching the masses. To that end, it absolutely helped that buzz for the film version of Taylor Swift's multi-billion-dollar tour has been overwhelmingly positive. As it stands, the movie sits at a perfect 100% approval rating from critics on Rotten Tomatoes and has a near-perfect 99% audience score. You can read /Film's 7 out of 10 review right here. Buzz that strong likely pushed many who were on the fence over the edge. It's one thing for a very famous person to release a movie. It's another thing entirely to make sure that movie is good. Swift and director Sam Wrench did their jobs here.
Very little direct competition
Taylor Swift also faced next to nothing by way of direct competition at the theaters. As we saw with "Barbie" earlier this year, movies targeted more directly at female moviegoers can do remarkably big business. But "Barbie" recently fell out of the Top 10 at the box office and, with Halloween just around the corner, we've got movies like "The Exorcist: Believer" and "Saw X" vying for audience attention. As a result, "The Eras Tour" had a clear path to bring folks to theaters en masse, unabated. It's highly unlikely that many people were weighing whether to watch "The Creator" or Taylor Swift's concert film. In a lot of ways, it felt like a perfect release date. It's not like it was over the summer when we have a new blockbuster hitting theaters every weekend. There was room for a big movie, and Swift was happy to fill the void.
Concert tickets are radically expensive
Part of what helped AMC and Taylor Swift was the premium ticket price of $19.89, in honor of the artist's best-selling album "1989." Even though that's more than the average movie ticket, many fans were seemingly happy to fork over the cash and, in no small part, that has to do with the fact that it's much, much cheaper than the price of a concert ticket to "The Eras Tour." Much has been made of the rising price of concert tickets, particularly with scalpers making a mint on the secondary market. The average, face-value price of a ticket to Swift's ongoing tour is $254. In the aftermarket, however, Pitchfork reported that they were selling for a staggeringly high average price of $3,801. Yes, really. So this movie is actually giving a lot of fans the chance to see something they otherwise probably couldn't realistically see. In this case, it was as simple as finding a theater near you.
It felt like a real event
In so many cases in the aftermath of the pandemic, we have been left to wonder why certain movies haven't succeeded when they might have felt like more surefire bets even just a few years ago. The pandemic changed consumer habits and, even before that, the ability to watch 4K movies on huge TVs at home affordably was something the exhibition side of the industry was competing with. One common thing we've seen in recent years is that films that feel like true events manage to cut through the noise. The whole Barbenheimer thing earlier this year is the perfect example. We can also look at "Spider-Man: No Way Home" or "Avatar: The Way of Water."
Taylor Swift made "The Eras Tour" feel like a true event. The left-field announcement probably helped fuel that, as well as the fact that it was dropped with a "Surprise!" rather than a months-in-advance announcement with a meticulous marketing campaign. It felt like something truly for the fans, the media got behind it, and fans went apes***. Crowded theaters, people dancing in the aisles, and even themed popcorn buckets — it all worked to make this feel like the must-see event of the Fall season.
"Taylor Swift: The Eras Tour" is in theaters now.