The Grammy winner debuted her latest project earlier this week at a celebrity-packed premiere in Los Angeles
Taylor Swift continues to break records with her ongoing billion-dollar tour, now adding to her success with the release of ‘The Eras Tour Concert Film.’ The film’s groundbreaking debut at the box office, estimated at $95-$97 million, cements its position as the highest-grossing concert film in history, with glowing reviews from audiences and critics alike
“This is a huge win for Taylor Swift and her family,” says Matthew Belloni, who first reported the terms of Swift’s theatrical deal in his newsletter, Puck.
By cutting a deal directly with AMC Entertainment instead of traditional movie studios, Swift “bypassed the traditional Hollywood system and like many things in her life, she came out on top. This is a huge financial windfall,” he added.
On Wednesday, the pop star again did things her way by holding a frenzied Los Angeles premiere that took over 13 AMC theaters at The Grove, where she held court in a blue Oscar de la Renta gown.
And when news broke that the film would hit theaters a day early, Swifties across the country were ready for it. Inside packed theaters, fans traded (more) friendship bracelets, sang along at full pitch and danced in the aisles, taking cell phone videos of the screen (allowable in a rare instance by theaters) and eating out of coveted Swift-adorned popcorn buckets.
Theaters even agreed to set Swiftian prices for tickets: $19.89 (plus tax) for standard adult tickets and $13.13 for children and seniors (plus tax).
Meanwhile, Hollywood has been in knots over the lost opportunity. Instead of selling rights to The Eras Tour Concert Film to a movie studio, which would traditionally distribute the film to movie theaters and take a cut of the profits, Swift — and her parents, Andrea and Scott, Puck reported — cut out the middleman and brokered a deal with AMC that was “overwhelmingly favorable to the Swift family,” says Belloni.
How much will the pop star make in this streamlined business model? A hefty sum, for sure. Puck reported 43 percent of the movie’s gross profits will go to theaters, and the remaining 57 percent will be shared (in an undetermined split) by Swift and AMC.
Like her sold-out global tour, the demand for the Eras concert film is staggering: Prior to release, AMC announced the film had sold more than $100 million in advance tickets globally, with the movie set to debut in 90 countries.
The upcoming release of Beyonce’s concert film, ‘Renaissance: A Film By Beyoncé,’ through AMC Entertainment on December 1, alongside the recent collaboration of both Beyonce and Taylor Swift at the L.A. premiere, marks a significant moment in cinematic history. Jeff Bock, senior box-office analyst for Exhibitor Relations Co., notes the rarity of successful concert films, emphasizing the unique and groundbreaking nature of these two back-to-back releases, which are expected to not only achieve significant success but also potentially set a new trend in the cinematic landscape
SOURCE: PEOPLE
