By Rebecca Rubin
Film and Media Reporter
Checkmate, she couldn’t lose. Taylor Swift‘s “The Eras Tour” has crossed a notable box office milestone. The concert film has grossed more than $250 million globally, including $178.2 million domestically and $71.8 million internationally after seven weeks of release.
It stands as the 19th highest-grossing release of the year worldwide, recently surpassing “Sound of Freedom” ($248 million) and “Dungeons & Dragons: Honor Among Thieves” ($208 million). In North America, “The Eras Tour” is the 11th-biggest release of 2023, now ahead of “Mission: Impossible – Dead Reckoning Part One” ($172 million) and “Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny” ($174 million).
In its opening weekend, “The Eras Tour” became the highest-grossing concert film in domestic box office history, overtaking 2011’s “Justin Bieber: Never Say Never” ($73 million). It’s still contending with the genre’s global record holder, 2009’s “Michael Jackson: This Is It” ($261 million).
“The Eras Tour” has been a unique theatrical experiment for several reasons. It started its run by only playing theaters on Thursdays through Sundays, meaning audiences couldn’t catch the film on the odd Tuesday. And, tickets are more expensive than the average movie. Swift set the cost of admission for adults at $19.89, in reference to her birth year and 2014 album. Children and seniors got in for $13.13, alluding to her lucky number. These numerically coded fees are higher than the nation’s average ticket price and may have countered the lack of midweek screenings.
Beyond the unorthodox showtimes and prices, “The Eras Tour” was distributed by AMC Theatres, the world’s largest cinema chain, rather than a major studio. Beyoncé brokered a similar deal with AMC for “Renaissance: A Film By Beyoncé,” which opens on Dec. 1.
Swift, who self-produced the film, gets to take home about 57% of ticket sales, with exhibitors keeping the remaining revenues and AMC taking a small distribution fee. After its theatrical run, the pop star was able to carve out a separate deal to bring the concert film to the small screen. She announced on Monday that her “Eras Tour” film will be released for streaming on her birthday, Dec. 13 — and it will include three songs from the tour not included in the movie’s theatrical release.
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