By Todd Spangler
NY Digital Editor
Taylor Swift keeps cashing in on her blockbuster Eras Tour.
Disney is paying more than $75 million to the singer-songwriter-entrepreneur to exclusively stream “Taylor Swift: The Eras Tour (Taylor’s Version),” on Disney+ worldwide, according to Puck News, citing anonymous sources. Per the report, Disney outbid Netflix and Universal Pictures (which handled digital/VOD distribution for the film) for the streaming rights.
Disney has declined to comment on the streaming deal for “The Eras Tour,” which will include five songs not in previous versions of the movie. A rep for Swift did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
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“Taylor Swift: The Eras Tour,” after its wide theatrical premiere Oct. 13, raked in $261.7 million at the global box office — making it the highest-grossing concert film to date. The film was shot at the first three L.A. shows of the Eras tour from Aug. 3-5, 2023. The 2-hour-and-45-minute theatrical release omitted several songs from the performances.
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The newly expanded version of “The Eras Tour” will debut March 15 on Disney+. Among the bonus songs included on the streamer will be “Cardigan,” from Swift’s 2020 album “Folklore,” plus four acoustic songs — but neither Swift nor Disney has yet revealed what those are. Based on Variety’s analysis of Swift’s three shows at L.A.’s SoFi Stadium shot for the film (and excluded from the original cut), those are likely the four acoustic “surprise songs” she performed: “Death by a Thousand Cuts,” “Maroon,” “You Are in Love” and “I Can See You.”
“We know audience are going to absolutely love the chance to relive the electrifying ‘Taylor Swift: Eras Tour (Taylor’s Version)’ whenever they want on Disney+,” Disney chief Bob Iger said on the company’s earnings call Wednesday.
Disney+ currently is streaming Swift’s documentary performance film “Folklore: The Long Pond Studio Sessions,” which was first released in 2020. Swift is set to make her directorial feature-film debut in a deal with Disney’s Searchlight Pictures based on her original script, details of which remain under wraps.
The digital release of “Taylor Swift: The Eras Tour” was released on Dec. 13, Swift’s birthday. That version, distributed by Universal, included three bonus songs that were not seen in theaters (“Wildest Dreams,” “The Archer” and “Long Live”) which pushed its runtime to 3 hours and 1 minute.
It’s been an eventful week for the billionaire: Swift made history at the Grammys this Sunday when “Midnights” won album of the year — her record-setting fourth win in the category — and announced her next studio album, “The Tortured Poets Department.” Swift’s Eras Tour pulled in an estimated $1 billion in gross ticket sales in 2023 and through 2024 is expected to exceed $2 billion, according to projections by live-music trade publication Pollstar.
Pictured above: Taylor Swift attends the “Taylor Swift: The Eras Tour” concert movie world premiere at AMC The Grove 14 on Oct. 11, 2023, in L.A.
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