Taylor Swift: The Eras Tour | 113 facts about the concert film

“Taylor Swift: The Eras Tour” is a 2023 concert film that documents the pop star’s tour of the same name.

With the film playing around the world, let’s find out some trivia and facts about the concert film.

1. Taylor Swift: The Eras Tour is a 2023 American concert film
2. The film is produced by singer-songwriter Taylor Swift
3. Directed by Sam Wrench
4. The film documents the Eras Tour, Swift’s 2023–2024 concert tour in support of her discography
5. Swift struck an unprecedented distribution agreement with AMC Theatres and Cinemark Theatres for the film
6. This happened after negotiations with the major film studios fell through
7. Filming occurred in August 2023 at three shows at SoFi Stadium in Inglewood, California
8. With SAG-AFTRA permitting the production to proceed amidst its 2023 strike
9. Swift announced The Eras Tour later that month
10. Catching studios and exhibitors off guard
11. Causing several films that had been set for release on or near October 13 to move their release dates
12. The unconventional release strategy was the topic of media discourse
13. With many journalists and industry personnel praising Swift’s move to bypass the studios and directly partner with theaters
14. The film premiered at the Grove in Los Angeles, California, on October 11, 2023
15. It was released to theaters worldwide on October 13
16. It was met with significant ticket demand
17. Amassing a record $37 million on its first day of pre-sales in the United States
18. As of October 5, 2023, the film has earned $100 million in global pre-sales
19. Becoming the highest-grossing concert film of all time
20. It received positive reviews from critics
21. Most of whom praised the camerawork, editing and sound for capturing the show’s spectacle and energy
22. On the review aggregator website Rotten Tomatoes, the film holds a 100% rating
23. Based on 24 critics’ reviews
24. With an average rating of 8.7/10
25. Metacritic, which uses a weighted average, assigned the film a score of 89 out of 100
26. Based on 14 critics
27. Indicating “universal acclaim”
28. Audiences polled by CinemaScore gave the film a rare average grade of “A+” on an A+ to F scale
29. The Eras Tour was met with unprecedented ticket demand
30. Given its unorthodox release model, various industry personnel attempted to predict the film’s box-office gross
31. Comscore analyst Paul Dergarabedian told CNBC that “speculation [was] running rampant as to how massive the opening weekend will be”
32. The U.S. projections for the opening weekend gross ranged from a record $70 million to $100 million amongst media outlets
33. The Hollywood Reporter and Deadline Hollywood reported that the film was vying for a global opening-week gross of $150–200 million
34. $100–125 million in North America and $50–75 million overseas
35. Stating that its “truncated” theatrical run was an obstacle in predicting its gross
36. The full gross from its theatrical run in the U.S. and Canada was projected by Variety to be $200–250 million
37. The New York Times expressed uncertainty regarding the film’s box-office forecasts
38. Claiming they are based on moviegoer surveys and marketing, and hence the ticket sales could either sustain or decline after the opening weekend
39. In anticipation of high demand following the 2022 Ticketmaster controversy, AMC upgraded its ticket sale systems to accommodate five times its original capacity and temporarily halted sales of most of its other films
40. Nevertheless, the mobile app crashed shortly after the sales began
41. Customers were placed in queues to access the AMC website
42. Within hours after tickets went on sale, the film surpassed $10 million in pre-sales
43. Box-office analysts likened to the performance of a Marvel film
44. Global Internet searches for “AMC” spiked by more than 1000 percent
45. While AMC’s stock experienced a brief 9.2 percent surge
46. Bloomberg News wrote that news of the film’s high ticket sales “boosted stock prices on both sides of the Atlantic”
47. On September 1, 2023, AMC announced that The Eras Tour had grossed $26 million within three hours on its platform
48. Marking the highest-ever single-day advance ticket sales in the company’s history
49. Surpassing the previous record of $16.9 million by Spider-Man: No Way Home (2021)
50. Wanda Gierhart Fearing, chief marketing officer of Cinemark, reported they had booked an “unprecedented number of auditoriums” to meet demand
51. Hence, AMC and Cinemark added more showtimes
52. IMAX sold out more than 250 screenings of the film in one day, a number similar to that of “a blockbuster tentpole feature”
53. Fandango reported that The Eras Tour had set a platform record for the highest first-day ticket sales in 2023, comparable to No Way Home, Avengers: Endgame (2019), and Star Wars: The Force Awakens (2015)
54. Deadline Hollywood reported that the film had earned over $37 million in first-day pre-sale revenue across the U.S.
55. Surpassing The Force Awakens’ $20 million and marking the second-highest pre-sale tally ever, behind Avengers: Endgame’s $50 million
56. By September 15, the film’s pre-sale revenue had reached $65 million
57. Surpassing Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness (2022)’s $60 million and The Batman (2022)’s $42 million
58. AMC reported $100 million earned in global pre-sales a week before the film’s release
59. Surpassing Justin Bieber: Never Say Never (2011) to become the highest-grossing concert film of all time
60. As of October 9, 2023, around 4200 showtimes of the film in the U.S. were sold out
61. Outpacing Barbie (2023), which had 500 sold-out shows in the same timeframe
62. In Mexico, during the first days of pre-sale, the film sold a record 292,500 tickets at Cinépolis theaters, surpassing that of Avengers: Infinity War (2018)
63. In Australia, the film grossed more than $300,000 within the first 12 hours of pre-sales at Hoyts
64. Tripling the first-day pre-sales of Avatar: The Way of Water (2022)
65. In the United Kingdom, the film broke the Vue record for the highest first-day and first-week pre-sales for a concert film
66. Surpassing BTS: Permission to Dance on Stage (2022)
67. The film’s unorthodox release strategy generated much commentary from film, music, and entertainment journalists
68. Vanity Fair opined that the film arrived “just when moviegoing needs it most” and may boost theater earnings after the business was widely affected by the then-ongoing Writers Guild of America and SAG-AFTRA strikes, which have affected numerous Hollywood productions
69. Many journalists expressed similar sentiments, believing the film would “save” the late 2023 box office
70. National Association of Theatre Owners president Michael O’Leary believed the success of The Eras Tour indicates the potential of concert films in theaters
71. CNBC commented that Swift would reinvigorate the concert film genre that had first entered cinema theatres in the 1960s
72. Rolling Stone named The Eras Tour as one of the “42 Must-See Movies of Fall 2023”
73. The Daily Telegraph praised Swift as “the greatest tactician in showbusiness,” writing, “Barbenheimer showed people will go to the cinema if they feel they are participating in a communal experience. Hollywood refused to take advantage of this. So Swift has instead”
74. Analyses from Collider and TheWrap concluded that by successfully negotiating her deal and proving its profitability, Swift had incentivized theaters to find programming without the help of the studios, “potentially changing the dynamics of cinema distribution”
75. Tony Vinciquerra, chairman and CEO of Sony Pictures, called The Eras Tour a “massive, unexpected rescue” for theaters
76. Media publications believed Swift and AMC’s partnership “[had] the potential to rewrite the rules” of film distribution
77. Billboard noted, the “unusual deal” could influence AMC and other exhibitors to expand their distribution operations to include other concert films
78. On October 1, 2023, American singer Beyoncé announced Renaissance: A Film by Beyoncé, a concert film of her Renaissance World Tour, in the advent of The Eras Tour’s release
79. Renaissance had the same distribution deal “forged by AMC and [Swift]”, without the involvement of the major studios
80. Beyoncé also attended The Eras Tour’s premiere
81. Various films moved their release dates to avoid competing with Swift
82. The hashtag “#Exorswift” trended on social media after the concert film was announced, as The Eras Tour had the same release date as The Exorcist: Believer, a supernatural horror film
83. This was in reference to the “Barbenheimer” phenomenon surrounding Barbie (2023) and Oppenheimer (2023) earlier that year
84. In response, Universal Pictures and Blumhouse Productions moved up the release of Believer, originally on a Friday the 13th, by one week
85. A move IndieWire observed likely did not come at a low cost considering Believer’s expensive marketing campaign
86. Paramount Pictures and Apple Studios also abandoned plans for a two-week limited run of the western film Killers of the Flower Moon, directed by Martin Scorsese, preceding its wide release on October 20
87. The Eras Tour began in Glendale, Arizona, on March 17, 2023
88. The tour is set to conclude in 2024
89. The show spans over three hours
90. With a set list of 44 songs divided into 10 distinct acts that conceptually portray Swift’s ten studio albums
91. The tour was a commercial success and received critical acclaim
92. It became a cultural and economic phenomenon
93. Bolstered by globally unprecedented ticket demand and fan frenzy.[3][6]
94. In 2023, Swift commissioned a recording of the Eras Tour to be theatrically released as a feature film
95. Sam Wrench, who previously helmed Billie Eilish’s Billie Eilish: Live at the O2 (2023) and Lizzo’s Lizzo: Live in Concert (2022), was hired as director
96. The film was recorded at the first three of six Los Angeles shows of the tour from August 3 to 5, 2023, at SoFi Stadium in Inglewood, California
97. Swift’s in-house production company, Taylor Swift Productions, produced the film independently in collaboration with Silent House Productions
98. Forgoing the involvement of major American film studios allowed Swift to reduce expenses
99. Puck estimated that the film cost $10–20 million
100. It was able to be produced, released, and promoted amidst the ongoing SAG-AFTRA strike because it received special approval from SAG-AFTRA as a non-AMPTP production that met “the same standards the unions are seeking in their negotiations with the studios”
101. SAG-AFTRA chief negotiator Duncan Crabtree-Ireland stated that Swift “came to [them] and said she wanted to do this, but only if she could do it the right way under a union contract”
102. Swift announced the concert film on August 31 through her social media accounts and during an appearance on Good Morning America on ABC
103. Tickets went on sale the same day in the United States, Canada, and Mexico
104. On September 26, Swift announced that the film would be released globally
105. In the U.S., AMC Theatres agreed to serve as both distributor and exhibitor of The Eras Tour
106. the film will screenat least four times a day from Thursday through Sunday during each week of its run
107. Ticket prices for standard screenings were preset at $19.89 for adults
108. This is a reference to Swift’s upcoming re-recorded album 1989 (Taylor’s Version)
109. And $13.13 for children and seniors
110. A possible reference to Swift’s lucky number, 13
111. The film will also be available on premium large formats such as IMAX and Dolby Cinema
112. Each initial purchase included a free poster
113. While select locations advertised special-themed popcorn and drink containers