Taylor Swift’s “Taylor Swift: The Eras Tour” was reportedly the highest-grossing film this weekend in North America, earning between $95 million and $97 million, AMC Theaters said Sunday.
It’s the biggest opening ever for a music film, and excluding inflation, it’s more than the $73 million that “Justin Bieber: Never Say Never” earned in 2011 (which is about $102 million in today’s US dollars).
If Monday’s top score is confirmed, Taylor Swift’s film will have recorded the best October opening. So far, this record is held by “Joker,” which grossed $96.2 million in 2019.
The film opened in 3,855 theaters in North America, beginning with “surprise” screenings on Thursday evening. Those schedules helped give it an opening day result of $39 million, the second-highest number for October, behind only “Joker’s” $39.3 million.
Swift, who produced the film, went through the entire Hollywood studio system to distribute the film, making a direct deal with AMC, the largest film exhibition company in the United States. With her 274 million followers on Instagram, Swift didn’t need a traditional marketing campaign to promote the film.
Beyoncé has a similar deal with “Renaissance: A Film By Beyoncé,” which will be released on December 1. The two stars came together for the premiere of “The Eras Tour” this week in Los Angeles.
And Sam Wrench’s The Eras Tour isn’t just showing in AMC theaters. The Leawood, Kansas-based company worked with distributors Variance Films, Trafalgar Releasing, Cinepolis and Cineplex to screen the film in more than 8,500 theaters in 100 countries.
Elizabeth Frank, executive vice president of programming and content at AMC Theaters, said in a statement that they are grateful to Taylor Swift.
“Their amazing show delighted fans who dressed up and danced in the theaters,” Frank said. “Thanks to good recommendations and many people purchasing tickets to see this film multiple times, we expect ‘Taylor Swift: The Eras Tour’ to be playing to large crowds for several weeks to come.”
Taylor Swift’s tour was so popular that the Ticketmaster sites selling tickets went out of business and the resale prices became astronomical. Pollstar expects the round to total $1.4 billion. The movie offers better seats and a cheaper way to watch the show, even multiple times. Prices are higher than the national average, at $19.89 — a nod to the year Swift was born and the name of her 2014 album — but for private screens like IMAX they have been around $29. But this is still cheaper than concert tickets.
Showtimes are more limited than regular Hollywood blockbusters, but AMC guarantees at least four showings per day every Thursday, Friday, Saturday and Sunday. Many theaters advertise that there will be no refunds or exchanges. We will have to wait for the film to be available via streaming: the agreement with AMC stipulates an exclusive showing in theaters for 13 weeks.
The 10 highest-grossing films from Friday to Sunday in theaters in the United States and Canada, according to Comscore. The final numbers will be released on Monday.
1. “Taylor Swift: Tour for the Ages” – $95 to $97 million.
2. “The Exorcist: The Believer” – $11 million.
3. “Paw Patrol: The Mighty Movie” – $7 million.
5. “The Creator – $4.3 million.”
6. “Manhunt in Venice – $2.1 million.”
8. “The Nun II – $1.6 million.”
9. “Equation 3 – $960,000.
10. “Dumb Money – $920,000.”
