Last month, Makenzie Rau-Lehmann called her local movie theater in Duluth, Minn., with an unusual but important question: Did it have any restrictions on singing and dancing?
‘The Eras Tour’ movie brings Taylor Swift’s business empire to theaters – The Washington Post
October 11, 2023
“They said because of the nature of the film, they can’t really put any restrictions on it, but with the dancing, they just don’t know how much space there will technically be,” Rau-Lehmann said after speaking to a theater employee, who assured her that singing along would be just fine. Theater chains such as AMC and Cinemark, bombarded with similar questions, have since posted guidelines, including whether you can bring glitter to the theater. (“Please refrain,” Cinemark says.)
These are just some of the things Swifties are thinking about as they count the hours until the movie’s Oct. 13 release. This isn’t an ordinary concert film, simply because it involves Swift, who has evolved into even more of a seismic cultural force this past year: Her tour is on pace to become the first to make $1 billion in ticket sales, she has infused millions of dollars into local economies every time she toured a new city, she and her fans have caused vibrations equivalent to a minor earthquake from concert noise, and she has delivered 3½-hour concerts so emotionally intense that fans have reported suffering from amnesia afterward.
Now Swift’s empire has come for the movie industry. As the U.S. box office faced a post-summer slowdown and Hollywood’s strikes disrupted the fall release calendar, Swift announced an unusual direct distribution deal with AMC Theatres. “The Eras Tour” film quickly broke the company’s record for advance first-day ticket sales ($26 million), and, with more than $100 million in global presales, according to AMC, it’s already one of the highest-grossing concert films in box office history.
The reason? The fans. Rau-Lehmann remembers the show she saw at U.S. Bank Stadium in Minneapolis in June, but she, like countless other Swifties, is thrilled that she just gets to experience it all again: “There’s so much that goes on that it’s impossible to take everything in just once.”
The spectacle of an Eras Tour show is indeed overwhelming as Swift performs songs from nearly all her 10 studio albums over her 17-year career. Swift is extremely detail-oriented, to put it mildly, and TikTok and Instagram are filled with concert footage that fans pore over for things they may have missed: the graphics of glass cracking onstage when Swift slams her foot down during “Delicate,” or the many elaborate backup-dancer costumes during “Look What You Made Me Do.” Swift has trained her fans to be on the lookout for clues in her work that may have a larger meaning, an assignment fans are taking seriously for the movie, too.
“I used to get looked down on for being a Taylor Swift fan, … and now in 2023, it’s literally bringing people together and contributing to the economy,” said Beck Ducharme, 23, who suspects that the mockery was because liking Swift meant you were “super girly.” But this summer, with the Eras Tour, Beyoncé’s Renaissance World Tour and the “Barbie” movie, she said, “it’s nice that women are able to be passionate about things they like without being ridiculed.”
Ducharme saw millions of views on her TikToks where she offered costume ideas for duos, trios and groups to wear to the movie. (She and her boyfriend, living in Texas, plan to wear costumes inspired by the “You Belong With Me” music video.) Outfits have become a critical element of the Eras Tour experience — and viral TikTok fodder — whether you dress for a specific era or song. Fans who wore glitter and heels and elaborate costumes, however, are planning to tone it down for the chilly and darkened movie theater, where the run time is close to three hours.
“I’m not going to go all out with fishnets and sparkles,” said Shannon Hyde, 40, who attended one of the Los Angeles shows filmed for the movie and is wondering whether she’ll be featured in one of the crowd reaction shots. (“I’m sure I’m going to be ugly-crying or something, but that’s fine.”) Though, this time, she’s going to leave the sequins from the “Lover” era at home and choose a Swift cardigan or sweatshirt. “I’m going Taylor-themed, but in a much more comfortable way.”
The movie also widens the accessibility of the show for fans who haven’t been able to attend the concerts, and couldn’t buy or afford tickets during the now-infamous Ticketmaster meltdown last fall. They wistfully viewed live streams on TikTok and watched as concertgoers traded friendship bracelets, a Swift concert tradition, and are ecstatic to be part of the Eras Tour lore with the film.
A revival for the box office — and concert films
Swift’s innovative deal isn’t just a win for fans. Industry experts also consider it a victory for AMC Theatres distribution and the autumn box office season, which otherwise was experiencing a commercial hangover after the highs of a “Barbenheimer” summer.
“This is a huge moment for not just AMC, but theatrical in general,” said Jeff Bock, a box office analyst with Exhibitor Relations.
“This is unprecedented in terms of the level of excitement for this concert film,” added Bock, noting: “We have not seen anything like this since maybe the Beatles films” in the ’60s.
AMC and its sub-distribution partners have reportedly made deals to show “Eras” in about 100 countries in more than 8,500 theaters.
Alongside the film’s $100 million in global presales, Bock projects that the movie should gross more than $100 million for its domestic debut, once walk-up sales are included.
He said even the unique nature of the ticket prices add to the hype: Tickets for adults are $19.89 before tax — a nod to the Swift album title and her birth year — and $13.13 for kids. (Swift considers 13 her lucky number.)
AMC said in a statement last week that audience demand for the film “has been incredible from the moment it was first announced,” with many fans buying tickets to view the movie in large-screen formats. (AMC declined a request for comment.)
The biggest North America release ever for a concert film is 2011’s “Justin Bieber: Never Say Never,” which grossed about $73 million domestically, not adjusting for inflation. (It made $99 million worldwide.) Globally, the record-holder remains 2009’s “Michael Jackson’s This Is It,” which grossed more than $260 million — a mark not out of reach for the Swift film.
Following the Swift movie will be the theatrical release in December of Beyoncé’s concert film from her Renaissance World Tour — another industry-defying distribution deal made with AMC without studio involvement.
Choreographer and director Vincent Paterson, whose many credits include tour and screen projects with Jackson and Madonna, views this moment as a revival of concert films that’s partly due to the high price points of such cultural event mega-tours as those of Swift and Beyoncé.
“So many people can’t really afford to go to concerts anymore, so I think that this is fantastic that this is happening,” Paterson said. “So many people who appreciate” such performers as Swift and Beyoncé “at least can afford a ticket to the movies.”
Even some fans who have attended these tours couldn’t afford to sit close, he said: “You’re sitting so far back that you’re basically looking at jumbotrons, because the artists on the stage are so small. I think one of the joys of seeing a concert film is that you are right there in the front row, and I think that makes a big difference for a lot of people.”
AMC, the largest movie chain in North America with nearly 8,000 screens as of last year, scored the “golden ticket” once Team Swift decided it would circumvent the Hollywood studios and work directly with theatrical chains as distributors and sub-distributors, Bock said.
Swift’s deal arrived as a disrupter to traditional studio distribution, the entertainment analyst said, and could prove to be a game changer for theater chains, which have faced major challenges in adapting to shifting consumer trends in an age of streaming, especially since the beginning of the coronavirus pandemic.
“The balance of power has been favorable to the studios for quite some time, and not so favorable to theaters in general,” Bock said.
Swift’s deal also was announced while studios and streamers were at odds with Hollywood writers and actors. Although the Writers Guild of America strike has been settled, most performers with the Screen Actors Guild-American Federation of Television and Radio Artists remain on strike and cannot promote struck work, further creating a commercial gap for Swift’s film, and potentially Beyoncé’s, to fill.
Even other scheduled fall releases were disrupted by the “Eras” film.
Jason Blum moved up his release of “The Exorcist: Believer” from Oct. 13 to Oct. 6 (denying some fans an “Exorswift” double feature). On Aug. 31, the Blumhouse founder tweeted: “Look what you made me do.”
“On a Friday the 13th, they moved a horror film,” Bock said. “That’s the power of Taylor Swift.”
Source: News
About The Author
