“Taylor Swift The Eras Tour” dominated the box office on its opening day. The film raked in an impressive $39 million on its first day of screening in 3855 theaters across North America. This amount includes $2.8 million from Thursday’s preview shows.
This is the second-largest October opening in history, just behind the 2019 drama “Joker” ($39.3 million). Swift’s concert film also ranks seventh in terms of the biggest openings in 2023, between “Oppenheimer” ($43 million) and “The Little Mermaid” ($38 million).
Swift’s unexpected announcement of preview shows on Wednesday likely contributed to a significant increase in ticket sales between Thursday and Friday. Initially, the “The Eras Tour” was set to premiere on Friday the 13th – a number particularly significant for Taylor Swift.
The concert film has a chance to cross $100 million during its opening weekend. Additionally, the film will only be screened until Monday but will return to theater screens next Thursday. This unique strategy aims to create a sense of urgency and exclusivity for the event.
Swift and AMC theaters are encouraging viewers to use their cell phones and dance during screenings, making the viewing experience more like a concert. Early viewers who saw the film were thrilled by it – as evidenced by the rarely awarded “A+” Cinema Score rating.
Thanks to a unique agreement with AMC theaters, which distributes the film both in its own theaters and other multiplexes as well as independent locations, Swift has a chance for a larger percentage of profits. This could be the start of a new era of concert film distribution directly by exhibitors.