Taylor Swift: The Eras Tour concert film had sold more than $100 million in advance tickets globally as of today, according to AMC Theatres Distribution and AMC Entertainment as the film is set to open at close to 8,500 theatres across 100 countries in a week.
Audience demand “has been incredible” across the U.S., AMC said, “from the largest cities to the smallest towns,” dominating large screen formats. The Sam Wrench-directed movie of the blockbuster tour opens October 13 at 6 p.m. local time. AMC has said that the most anticipated movie on the fall theatrical release calendar will be holding a world premiere event October 11 in Los Angeles. Deadline had reported in late Sept. that Eras Tour hit tracking with a $100M-$125M opening-weekend outlook.
The tsunami of a film that has broken the record for concert film ticket sales was announced August 31. It gave a massive boost to exhibition at a time when Hollywood strikes were forcing release schedule changes. The WGA has settled but the actors are still on strike and although talks are ongoing it’s not clear when SAG-AFTRA and the AMPTP will reach a settlement. The box office has struggled without actors out promoting their films.
Eras Tour received a SAG-AFTRA interim agreement so that the 12-time Grammy winner can promote it. Swift is on a break from her Eras Tour and won’t resume live shows until November 9 in Buenos Aires.
Concert films look to be making a comeback at the box office. Renaissance: A Film by Beyoncé is set to debut Dec. 1, also distributed by AMC.
Recently an older film got some love as The Talking Heads reunion out of TIFF for A24’s 40th anniversary of Stop Making Sense minted more than $640,000 at 165 Imax locations, making it the biggest live event ever for the large-format exhibitor. The Jonathan Demme film passed $1 million last weekend.
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Sub-distribution partners Variance Films is handling the release in the U.S., Cineplex in Canada, Cinepolis in Mexico and Central America, and Trafalgar Releasing outside of North America.
