The concert film edition of “Taylor Swift: The Eras Tour‘ was already on track to host the biggest opening weekend ever for a concert film and become the highest-grossing concert film in film history. Now, based on numbers and comments from IMAX CEO Richard Gelfond, it looks like those previous projections will be shattered as well.
IMAX CEO Richard Gelfond says Taylor Swift’s concert film “could be a $100 million dollar weekend.” pic.twitter.com/rQkgcQ49ss
— Yahoo Finance (@YahooFinance) September 7, 2023
‘Taylor Swift: The Eras Tour’ Concert Film Eyes $100 Million Opening Weekend, Says IMAX CEO
The upcoming concert film for Taylor Swift’s current global tour will be shown in IMAX theaters starting next month. Speaking to Yahoo! Finance, IMAX CEO Gelfond noted that ticket presales for the concert film now exceed $65 million. He also predicted that the film’s opening weekend could be as high as “$100 million,” which would be a staggering amount and great for movie theaters in a very uncertain time when consumer viewing habits have changed significantly. Theaters are still trying to get coverage in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic.
Just a few days ago, Deadline reported that ticket sales for the film were around $37 million from Day 1 alone. That means the concert film sold more tickets than “Star Wars: The Force Awakens” on its first day of presale. in 2015. Deadline also predicted a $70 million opening weekend for the film. If these latest numbers from Gelfond hold up, it looks like the movie “The Eras Tour” will even shatter these initial projections.
![Taylor Swift delights her legion of fans as she takes the stage with a dazzling array of scintillating outfit changes during her Eras Tour stop in Tampa, Florida](https://d3stcg8iy7fvse.cloudfront.net/2023/09/01174542/Taylor-Swift-e1693615580322.jpeg)
Miley Cyrus’ concert film, “Hannah Montana and Miley Cyrus: Best of Both Worlds Concert,” currently holds the record for the biggest box office opening weekend for a concert film at $31 million. “Justin Bieber: Never Say Never” has the highest domestic total at $73 million. Swift’s film will have a higher opening than “Never Say Never” next month.
Currently, Miley Cyrus holds the highest opening weekend record for a music concert film with “Hannah Montana and Miley Cyrus: Best of Both Worlds Concert,” which opened to $31 million in 2008 and ended at $65 million domestically. Justin Bieber came in second for the opening of “Justin Bieber: Never Say Never” with $29.5 million, but it has the highest domestic total at $73 million.
Gelfond noted at Yahoo! Finance that Swift fans and moviegoers want to watch the film in IMAX format because they want “a premium concert experience.” He added: “People are flocking to IMAX because they want something other than sitting in front of their home screen and streaming.” Although for fans who may not have been unlucky enough to see one of Swift’s concert performances live, watching it in a premium IMAX format, rather than on their computers or smartphones, is probably for the best.
![Taylor Swift with her hand on her heart during a performance](https://d3stcg8iy7fvse.cloudfront.net/2023/08/16091843/MEGA961353_004-2-scaled-e1692202744441-1024x471.jpg)
The concert film currently expects approximately 350 sold-out films for IMAX during its opening weekend. Because demand for tickets to Swift’s latest tour is so incredibly high, Swift is presenting a theatrical film version of the concert to make it more accessible. Demand for the new concert film has been so astronomical that movie studios have pulled a number of major releases from it as it looks like the concert event will take over the movie theater scene this October.
The release date of Universal and Jason Blum’s new sequel to ‘The Exorcist’, ‘The Exorcist: Believer’, has already been moved to October 6 in anticipation of the concert film. ‘Dumb Money,’ Sony Pictures and filmmaker Craig Gillespie’s exploration of the real-life GameStop short stock saga, subsequently had to push up its release date to September 29 to move it further away from ‘The Exorcist: Believer’ and ‘The Eras Tour’. .”
It appears that the film “The Eras Tour” is now on track to not only become the most important concert film event in history, but could also become one of the biggest theatrical releases of the year. AMC Theaters serves as distributor for the new cinematic concert event, which Sam Wrench is directing. “Taylor Swift: The Eras Tour” debuts in theaters on October 13.