The year 2023 has restored faith in movie theaters, as the summer proved to be one of the most thriving months for cinema. Audiences were attracted to the theaters to watch Christopher Nolan’s ‘Oppenheimer’ and Greta Gerwig’s ‘Barbie’. The films have received both critical acclaim and stellar box-office collections. Now, Taylor Swift has set the box office ablaze with the ‘Eras Tour’ concert film.
Since March 2023, Taylor Swift has been on the road with her mega-blockbuster ‘Eras Tour’. The tour has become a global phenomenon as Swift enthralled the concertgoers with theatrics and many surprises. One of the surprises was releasing the concert film after the completion of the US and Mexican legs of the tour. Now, the film has been released globally without the backing of a major studio, creating box office records. Christopher Nolan has praised the ‘1989’ singer for pulling off such a feat without a big banner.
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Christopher Nolan Praises Taylor Swift’s Move To Distribute The ‘Eras Tour’ Concert Film Via A Theater Owner
Taylor Swift has made the impossible possible! While major films backed by some big studios failed to do numbers, Taylor Swift’s ‘Eras Tour’ has created box office history by tying up with a theater chain, AMC. The film already cashed $100 million in pre-sales, and it opened at $125 million globally. This business tactic of the ‘Speak Now’ singer is now being praised by Christopher Nolan.
During an interview with author Kai Bird, who penned the book ‘American Prometheus’, which inspired Christopher Nolan’s ‘Oppenheimer’, the director talked about how Swift gave a valuable lesson in distribution to the studios before the release of the ‘Eras Tour’ concert film.
Christopher Nolan said, “Taylor Swift is about to show the studios, because her concert film is not being distributed by the studios, it’s being distributed by a theater owner, AMC, and it’s going to make an enormous amount of money.”
Nolan took a dig at the major studios, saying, “And this is the thing, [theatrical exhibition is] a format and a way of seeing things and sharing stories, or sharing experiences, that’s incredibly valuable. And if [the studios] don’t want it, somebody else will. So that’s just the truth of it.”
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‘Taylor Swift: The Eras Tour’ Broke Box Office Records In The US, Collecting $92.8 Million In Its Opening Weekend
The ‘Eras Tour’ phenomenon became grander after Taylor Swift announced that she would be releasing a concert film exclusively in the US amidst the Writer’s Strike. However, after the SAG-AFTRA successfully negotiated a deal, Swift announced a global release of the film. The premiere of ‘Taylor Swift: The Eras Tour’ was a star-studded affair, with Beyoncé marking her presence during the premiere.
At the premiere, Taylor Swift announced that the film would be released a day before the original date. So, after the film was released on October 12, 2023, it created a storm at the box office during the opening weekend. It collected $92.8 million at the box office in the USA and Canada, surpassing the $73 million collection of the ‘Justin Bieber: Never Say Never’ film in 2011.
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