The AMC-distributed concert film Taylor Swift: The Eras Tour, according to sources, has clocked $37M+ from the three big theater circuits — AMC, Regal and Cinemark — in its first 24 hours of presales. That’s definitely higher than the Day 1 presales of Star Wars: The Force Awakens at $20M.
The current opening weekend projection for Taylor Swift: The Eras Tour is $70M — at least right now. Box office sources are figuring that presales rep roughly 50% of the pic’s opening weekend. How is that? Female-skewing movies, i.e. Twilight, typically are front-loaded at the box office, and Swifties are heading to this in packs.
Why is this concert film bigger than all others? Because Swift is the H๏τtest act out there, with live-action tickets hard to come by, and the movie is coming out during a break in her long Eras Tour. Harry Styles and Billie Eilish, take note!
That opening weekend for The Eras Tour is poised to be a record debut for a concert movie, burying all other notable openings — and potentially all running domestic box office for the subgenre, i.e. Hannah Montana and Miley Cyrus: Best of Both Worlds Concert ($31M opening, $65.2M final in 2008), Michael Jackson’s This Is It ($23.2M, $72M in 2009) and Justin Bieber: Never Say Never ($29.5M opening, $73M).
It would not be shocking if Swift showed up at theaters or beamed in virtually opening weekend. Not saying that’s definitely happening, but there’s no such thing as a coincidence: Swift isn’t scheduled to be on tour during the pic’s opening weekend of October 13-15. She doesn’t tour North America again until October 2024.
Eras Tour first-day presales don’t beat all things Marvel, as Avengers: Endgame posted $50M in its first day when tickets went on sale in 2019 — en route to being the No. 2-grossing film of all time worldwide.
AMC is handling the distribution of The Eras Tour via Variance Films booking. As we previously reported, AMC’s $26M first day of presales for the Sam Wrench-directed film was a record for the circuit, besting the $16.9M it did for Spider-Man: No Way Home in 2021.
Also as previously mentioned — none of the Hollywood studios or streamers has any skin in this Eras Tour release. It’s all you, AMC.
Fun fact: The first day of presales for Swift’s concert movie blows away the entire domestic gross of Cats ($27.1M, 2019) and Amsterdam ($14.9M, 2022), in which she co-starred. But in all fairness, those pics were bombs, and she wasn’t carrying either entirely on her shoulders.
Wanda Gierhart Fearing, Cinemark’s Chief Marketing and Content Officer, said of the concert film’s success so far: “The record-breaking advance sales happening at our theaters across the United States for Taylor Swift: The Eras Tour showcase the incomparable joy that comes from taking in unbelievable content in an immersive environment together with friends, family and fellow fans. … Her tour’s sensational attraction, which is now continuing across exhibition, drove frenzied traffic to our website and app the moment tickets went on sale, and we are ready for Swifties to be enchanted by this concert film in the unprecedented number of auditoriums we have booked to meet demand for the shared, musical experience.”