Taylor Swift Eras Tour is the highest-grossing domestic concert film ever

Box
office
analysts
became
Swifties
in
the
lead-up
to
Taylor
Swift’s
Eras
Tour
concert
film
release,
estimating
blockbuster-style
opening
weekend
numbers.

And
Swift
delivered.

While
the
pop
singer
fell
short
of
the
$100
million
benchmark,
domestic
ticket
sales
still
topped
$95
million,
according
to
distributor

AMC
Entertainment.

The
theater
chain
provided
a
range
of
$95
million
to
$97
million
for
the
film’s
opening
weekend
on
Sunday,
with
expectations
that
an
official
figure
will
be
provided
on
Monday
once
all
tickets
have
been
tallied.

“The
film’s
debut
is
an
undeniable
tentpole-level
success
despite
the
challenges
of
predicting
what
it
might
achieve,”
said
Shawn
Robbins,
chief
analyst
at
BoxOffice.com.
“Swift,
her
fans,
and
theatrical
exhibition
should
all
be
celebrating
the
results.”

Already,
the
film
has
shattered
records,
becoming
the
highest-grossing
concert
film
release
domestically,
surpassing
Justin
Beiber’s
“Never
Say
Never”
film
release,
which
hauled
in
$73
million
over
the
course
of
its
run
in
theaters
in
2011,
in
a
single
weekend.
And
it
easily
beat
Miley
Cyrus’
“Best
of
Both
Worlds”
record
opening
of
$31.1
million
from
2008.

Swift’s
Eras
Tour
film
is
also
the
widest-released
concert
film
in
history,
arriving
in
more
than
3,850
domestic
locations
during
its
debut.

Monday’s
official
tally
will
unveil
if
Swift
was
able
to
capture
the
highest
opening
of
October,
currently
held
by
2019’s
“The
Joker”
($96.2
million),
and
if
it
is
the
sixth
or
seventh-highest
opening
of
2023.
Disney’s
“The
Little
Mermaid”
secured
$95.6
million
when
it
opened
in
May.

There’s
also
a
possibility
that
word
of
mouth
and
fan’s
love
of
Swift
could
send
more
moviegoers
to
theaters
on
Sunday,
pushing
it
closer
to
that
$100
million
figure.

“As
cautioned
in
recent
weeks,
forecasts
were
always
going
to
be
incredibly
volatile
given
the
highly
unique
nature
of
this
release,”
Robbins
said.
“Variables
such
as
average
ticket
price,
assessing
how
frontloaded
Swift’s
fan
base
would
make
the
film’s
presales,
and
whether
or
not
any
traditional
marketing
would
bring
out
non-Swifties
all
weighed
heavily
on
the
wide
range
of
possible
outcomes.”

Initially,
expectations
said
Swift
could
tally
between
$40
million
and
$60
million
on
Friday,
on
her
way
to
an opening
weekend
draw
of
as
much
as
$150
million.
The
film
scored
$39
million
on
Friday,
just
shy
of
the
forecasted
range
and
included

$2.8
million
from
last-minute
Thursday
night
previews,
which
were
announced
less
than
24
hours
before
they
were
available
for
purchase.

“Swift’s
excitement-inducing
reputation
and
the
unprecedented
nature
of
the
release
led
to
a
massive
outpouring
of
interest
in
the
film
certainly
contributed
to
some
overblown
expectations
of
a
$100
million
plus
weekend,”
said
Paul
Dergarabedian,
senior
media
analyst
at
Comscore.
“But
that
should
not
detract
from
the
enormity
of
this
box
office
achievement.”

A
whopping
60%
of
tickets
for
the
weekend
were
bought
in
advance,
according
to
data
from
EntTelligence,
one
of
the
highest
rates
the
movie
data
firm
has
ever
seen.
Typically,
big
tentpoles
see
40%
of
tickets
sold
ahead
of
time.

Around
4.8
million
people
were
estimated
to
have
attended
the
film
over
the
weekend,
with
an
average
ticket
price
of
$20.75,
EntTelligence
reported.
Nearly
80%
of
the
audience
was
female.

International
box
office
figures
were
not
immediately
available
on
Sunday,
but
with
a
solid
domestic
opening,
expectations
are
high
that
the
film
can
surpass
the
$262.5
million
global
haul
of
“Michael
Jackson’s
This
Is
It”
during
its
limited
run
in
theaters.

Swift’s
film
has
weekend-only
engagements
in
theaters,
instead
of
daily
screenings,
so
comparisons
to
other
releases
will
be
difficult
in
the
coming
weeks,
but
weekend-to-weekend
figures
will
be
comparable.

“The
question
now
is
what
the
Swift
film
will
do
for
an
encore
in
the
coming
days
and
weeks,”
Dergarabedian
said.
“Reports
of
a
spectacular
in-theater
experience
bodes
well
for
the
long-term
playability
of
the
film
and
guarantees
the
film
will
easily
eclipse
the
$100
million
mark
in
the
domestic
market.”