Summary
Like most things Taylor Swift does, Taylor Swift: The Eras Tour has already broken some impressive records. Swift took her ten studio albums on the road starting in March 2023 and, on August 31st, announced the tour would come to the big screen. During its opening weekend, Taylor Swift’s concert film grossed $123 million at the global box office.
Concert films have a history of performing well, which is why musicians continue to make them. However, no concert film has ever seen the success of Taylor Swift: The Eras Tour. From breaking box office records to helping SAG-AFTRA prove studios wrongs, there are many reasons why the success of Swift’s film is so impressive.
Taylor Swift: The Eras Tour Already Made 6x Its Budget (At Least)
Typically, any movie that makes a significantly higher amount of money than its budget is considered a Box Office success. However, Taylor Swift: The Eras Tour already made at least six times its budget. Swift’s concert film had a budget of about $10 to $20 million, making the $123 million gross incredible. With her star power, it’s no surprise her film is doing well, though it’s still an impressive accomplishment for the 12-time Grammy winner to add to her list of achievements. As fans continue to pour into theaters to relive the Eras Tour or experience it for the first time, Taylor Swift: The Eras Tour will no doubt be bringing in millions more.
Taylor Swift Doesn’t Have To Split The Profits With A Studio
Taylor Swift might be a talented songwriter and incredible performer, but she’s also a genius businesswoman. In the midst of the SAG-AFTRA strikes, Swift forwent a big studio and decided to produce the film herself and distribute it with AMC Theatres. The best part is Swift doesn’t have to split the money she makes from Taylor Swift: The Eras Tour with a big studio. With all the money coming in from the film that she doesn’t have to give away to a studio, along with all the cash Swift acquired on the actual tour, the pop star could be nearing billionaire status soon.
Taylor Swift: The Eras Tour’s Opening Broke A Concert Movie Box Office Record
Back in the 2000s, concert movies were very popular. Everyone from Disney Channel’s Hannah Montana to pop music legend Michael Jackson had a concert film in theaters. However, it was Justin Bieber’s 2011 concert movie Justin Bieber: Never Say Never that broke the record for the highest-grossing concert film. Jackson’s This Is It is technically considered a documentary since the singer died before the concert tour, so it was never actually featured in the movie.
While the King of Pop’s film remains the highest-grossing concert documentary of all time, Taylor Swift: The Eras tour has knocked Bieber into second place. Swift’s film is now the highest-grossing concert film of all time. With the extreme measures Swifties have gone to to support their idol throughout her career, this should be no surprise.
The Eras Tour Movie Proved A Crucial Point During Hollywood Strikes
Among Swift’s many talents and accomplishments, she is also an ally constantly standing up for what she believes in. Unsurprisingly, Swift had no intentions of crossing the picket lines during the WGA and SAG-AFTRA strikes. While the writer’s strikes ended just in time for Taylor Swift: The Eras Tour’s premiere, the SAG-AFTRA strikes sadly continue. Standing in solidarity with the union that she is a part of, Taylor proved not only did she not need a big studio to promote her film, but the talent and creative minds behind films are highly valuable.
It’s crucial to note not every filmmaker has the massive following of Taylor Swift. Some filmmakers do need funding from major studios. However, all the studios can do is provide funding, not creativity. Filmmakers can easily follow Taylor Swift’s lead and start working with independent production companies willing to fairly compensate writers, actors, and other crew members. By releasing her film with AMC, Swift proved big studios aren’t as necessary as they thought they were.
Taylor Swift: The Eras Tour Went Up Against Big Studio Films
Taylor Swift is surely one of the most influential and powerful artists of her generation. Her loyal Swifties are a massive part of her power, and she never fails to thank them for all they’ve done for her. However, some proved they were pretty terrified of her power and her fans’ dedication. The Exorcist: Believer was meant to hit theaters on October 13th, but once the singer announced Taylor Swift: The Eras Tour would be opening on that date, Blumhouse bumped their film up a week.
The Exorcist: Believer was distributed by Universal Pictures, a major production company, yet Swift’s film was still a threat. Even with the film coming out a week before, Swift still had to compete with the horror movie. Competition’s even tougher since it’s Halloween season, and many horror fans are pouring into theaters hoping to be scared. Saw X is also currently still in theaters, drawing in a crowd of horror fans just in time for Halloween. However, when October 13th came around, those films were clearly no threat to Taylor Swift.
Taylor Swift: The Eras Tour Is The Second Highest Grossing October Movie
With all the accomplishments Swift can check off her list, one of them is that she has the second-highest-grossing October opening in history. Swift’s film falls right behind Todd Phillips’ 2019 film Joker. The DC film distributed by Warner Brothers made a significantly higher amount of money than Swift’s film, pulling in $234 million globally during its opening. However, for a concert film, sitting right underneath Joker is a pretty incredible feat.
Taylor Swift Didn’t Have The Marketing Of A Big Studio Film
For Taylor Swift, a simple Instagram post might seem like enough promotion for anything she’s selling to do well. After all, she does an incredible job promoting her music and promoted her Eras Tour well enough for it to have made an estimated $4 billion-plus. However, movie studios are the masters of promotion, and the proof is in the biggest movie moment of the summer, Barbenheimer.
Though, Taylor Swift clearly didn’t need the help of a massive studio. She did the promo all on her own, which included showing up to the film’s premiere in LA with the coolest date she could have gotten, Beyoncé. Maybe having a big studio helping with promotion could have made Taylor Swift: The Eras Tour even more money, but making as much as it did without a studio is mind-blowing.
Taylor Swift: The Eras Tour Is The Biggest IMAX Opening For Concert Film
If Taylor Swift: The Eras Tour hasn’t broken enough records, the concert film is also the biggest opening for an IMAX concert film in history. Swift soared right past Michael Jackson’s This Is It, which held the record for over a decade. Morning Star even reported that Rich Gelfond, CEO of Imax, said the numbers Swift brought in “are usually reserved for Hollywood blockbusters.” While Swift didn’t beat Barbie’s IMAX opening, she did incredibly well with $13 million, which makes perfect sense for the star who’s been open about 13 being her lucky number her whole life.
Taylor Swift: The Eras Tour Added Thursday Night Previews At The Last Minute
While most films open with Thursday previews, when Taylor Swift announced Taylor Swift: The Eras Tour, she revealed it would open on Friday the 13th, once again honoring her lucky number. However, in her Instagram post announcing her arrival at the premiere, Swift revealed the film actually would have a Thursday release. Most Swifties had already bought their tickets for Friday and the following dates. However, if anyone could get moviegoers to buy tickets for a Thursday viewing at the last minute, it’s Taylor Swift. Even if most fans didn’t buy tickets for Thursday and stuck with the dates they previously purchased, Swift sold enough tickets for the original dates to break box office records.
Taylor Swift Could Have The Highest Grossing Concert Film & Tour
By now, it’s clear Taylor Swift has the highest-grossing concert film of all time, and it’s unlikely another artist will come along any time soon and break her record. However, this is even more impressive given the knowledge that the Eras Tour is also projected to be the highest-grossing tour of all time. Currently, Elton John holds the spot at number one with his Farewell Yellow Brick Road tour, which ran from 2018 through 2023 and brought in $939,100,000.
However, according to CNN, Swift might break John’s record. Even though Taylor Swift: The Eras Tour has hit theaters, Swift’s tour isn’t over yet. The pop star has more dates coming, and if she does break the record for the grossing tour, having that and the highest-grossing concert film simultaneously is pretty outstanding.
