Taylor Swift: The Eras Tour is coming to movie theaters everywhere, and it’s already looking like it will be a major box office smash. As of writing this, The Eras Tour: Concert Movie is projected for a record $100 million opening weekend box office, with $150 million being projected as the figure the film could ultimately walk away with.
The idea to put The Eras Tour live concert into movie theaters couldn’t have been made at a more opportune time. The WGA and SAG-AFTRA Strikes have severely hampered Hollywood’s ability to produce, market, or release new movie or TV show content, leaving theater distributors scrambling to find alternatives to traditional film releases. While premiering concert events in theaters aren’t new, Taylor Swift’s The Eras Tour is positioning itself to ride a wave of cultural momentum to “major event” status. The Eras Tour was THE event of Summer 2023, but millions of Taylor Swift fans didn’t get the chance (or raise the funds) to go to the concert live; for them, this theater showing alongside other passionate fans is a rare “next best thing” opportunity.
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There is also still a lot of female-led enthusiasm for theatrical cultural events, following the billion-dollar success of Barbie. Unofficially, Taylor Swift’s The Eras Tour is being framed as another big rallying event for women, and the theatrical release of the tour footage is certainly leaning into that idea.
The previous big success story for a concert tour-turned-global-theatrical-release was Justin Bieber: Never Say Never in 2011. Bieber-Fever carried that release to a $99 million box office, with $73 million of it earned domestically. The Eras Tour comes front-loaded with more hype than Never Say Never; Swift built the concert around the notion of celebrating the entirety of her catalog, which extends from 2006 until now – including all the re-recordings of old albums she has done, in order to take full ownership of her music. In fact, when The Eras Tour: Concert Film hits theaters on October 13th, Taylor Swift fans will be in the midst of rallying together again for the (re-)release of 1989 (Tayor’s Version), which is scheduled for release on October 27th. Just one more reason why this film release will quite likely be an even bigger success than predicted.
Taylor Swift’s The Eras Tour: Concert Film will be in theaters on October 13th.