Taylor Swift: The Eras Tour
Taylor Swift: The Eras Tour[a] is a 2023 American concert film produced by the singer-songwriter Taylor Swift. Directed by Sam Wrench, the film documents the Eras Tour, Swift's 2023–2024 concert tour. Swift struck an unprecedented distribution agreement with AMC Theatres and Cinemark Theatres for the film after negotiations with the major film studios fell through.
This article is about the concert film. For the concert tour, see The Eras Tour.Taylor Swift: The Eras Tour
Sam Wrench
Taylor Swift
Brett Turnbull
- Dom Whitworth
- Guy Harding
- Hamish Lyons
- Rupa Rathod
- Ben Wainwright-Pearce
- Mark 'Reg' Wrench
Taylor Swift
- Taylor Swift Productions
- Silent House Productions
- AMC Theatres
- Cinemark Theatres
- Disney+ (streaming)
- October 11, 2023 (The Grove, Los Angeles)
- October 13, 2023 (United States)
169 minutes
United States
English
$10–20 million
$261.7 million[1]
Filming took place in August 2023 at three shows at SoFi Stadium in Inglewood, California, in a budget of $10–20 million, with SAG-AFTRA permitting production to proceed amidst its 2023 strike. Swift announced The Eras Tour later that month, catching studios off guard and causing the release dates of several films that had been set for release on or near October 13 to be moved. The unconventional release strategy was a topic of media discourse; many journalists and industry personnel praised Swift's move to bypass the studios to directly partner with theaters and opined that the move defies the traditional producer–distributor–exhibitor model of releasing films.
The film premiered at the Grove in Los Angeles on October 11, 2023, and was released to theaters worldwide on October 13. It was met with significant ticket demand, amassing a record $37 million on its first day of pre-sales in the U.S. and over $100 million in total global pre-sales. The Eras Tour became the highest-grossing concert film of all-time, earning $261.7 million in its limited theatrical run worldwide. It received acclaim from critics, most of whom praised the direction, spectacle, energy, and Swift's artistry and showmanship. An extended cut of the film, subtitled (Taylor's Version) and includes performances withheld from the theatrical edit, was released on the streaming service Disney+ on March 14, 2024.
Box office[edit]
Pre-release[edit]
The Eras Tour was met with unprecedented ticket demand. Given its unorthodox release model, various industry personnel attempted to predict the film's box-office gross. Comscore analyst Paul Dergarabedian told CNBC that "speculation [was] running rampant as to how massive the opening weekend will be."[84] Billboard opined, "While such concert docs have historically been fan-only fare, with limited box-office ceilings, news of The Eras Tour was greeted as if it was the new Marvel blockbuster".[85] The U.S. projections for the opening weekend gross ranged from a record $70 million to $100 million among media outlets.[86][87][88] The Hollywood Reporter and Deadline Hollywood reported that the film was vying for a global opening-week gross of $150–200 million ($100–125 million in North America and $50–75 million overseas), stating that its "truncated" theatrical run was an obstacle in predicting its gross.[89][90] The full gross from its theatrical run in the U.S. and Canada was projected by Variety to be $200–250 million.[52] The New York Times expressed uncertainty regarding the film's box-office forecasts, claiming they are based on moviegoer surveys and marketing, and hence the ticket sales could either sustain or decline after the opening weekend.[91]
On September 1, 2023, AMC announced that The Eras Tour had grossed $26 million within three hours on its platform, marking the highest-ever single-day advance ticket sales in the company's history, surpassing the previous record of $16.9 million by Spider-Man: No Way Home (2021).[92][93] Wanda Gierhart Fearing, chief marketing officer of Cinemark, reported they had booked an "unprecedented number of auditoriums" to meet demand.[94] Hence, AMC and Cinemark added more showtimes.[92][93][95] IMAX sold out more than 250 screenings of the film in one day, a number similar to that of "a blockbuster tentpole feature".[94] 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).[87] Deadline Hollywood reported that the film had earned over $37 million in first-day pre-sale revenue across the U.S., surpassing The Force Awakens' $20 million and marking the second-highest pre-sale tally ever, behind Avengers: Endgame's $50 million.[86] By September 15, the film's pre-sale revenue had reached $65 million, surpassing Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness (2022)'s $60 million and The Batman (2022)'s $42 million.[96]
AMC reported $100 million earned in global pre-sales a week before the film's release,[37] surpassing Justin Bieber: Never Say Never (2011) to become the highest-grossing concert film of all time.[97][98] As of October 9, 2023, around 4200 showtimes of the film in the U.S. were sold out, outpacing Barbie (2023), which had 500 sold-out shows in the same timeframe.[53] 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).[99] In Australia, the film grossed more than $300,000 within the first 12 hours of pre-sales at Hoyts, tripling the first-day pre-sales of Avatar: The Way of Water (2022).[50] In the United Kingdom, the film broke the Vue record for the highest first-day and first-week pre-sales for a concert film, surpassing BTS: Permission to Dance on Stage (2022).[100][101]
Performance[edit]
As of February 8, 2024, Taylor Swift: The Eras Tour has grossed $261.7 million worldwide.[1] It is the highest grossing concert or performance film of all time, a feat recognized in the 2023 Guinness World Records.[102]
In the U.S., The Eras Tour made $2.8 million from Thursday night previews at 2,700 theaters, which were added only the day prior.[103] It grossed $39 million on its first day (including previews), marking the second-best opening day for an October release, behind Joker (2019) by $300,000, and the best ever for a concert film.[104][105] It went on to debut to $92.8 million, marking the second-best October opening of all-time, behind Joker's $96.2 million. It also marked the best-ever opening weekend for a concert film, while also surpassing Justin Bieber: Never Say Never ($73 million) to become the highest-grossing genre film in the U.S.; 26% of the gross was from IMAX screenings, while 60% was from pre-sales.[103] AMC-owned theaters accounted for 40.5% of the sales, compared to a typical 22–25% share.[106] The film eclipsed newcomer Killers of the Flower Moon to remain at the number one spot in the second weekend, earning $33.2 million and becoming the first concert film to spend two consecutive weeks atop the box office.[107][108] The film made $15.4 million and $13.5 million in its third and fourth weekend, respectively, finishing second behind the supernatural horror film Five Nights at Freddy's (2023) both times.[109][110]
The film made $30.7 million from international territories and a global total of $123.5 million in its first week.[111] It opened atop the U.K. and Ireland box office with a gross of over £1,000,000 ($1.3 million USD) as per Vue.[112] In India, The Eras Tour sold over 85,000 tickets for its opening weekend—a record for concert films in the country.[113] In Brazil, the film opened with a gross of nearly R$5,000,000 ($1.01 million USD),[114] whereas in China, it collected US$5.7 million dollars on its opening day,[54] on its way to a gross of RMB 95,000,000 (US$13.2 million).[115]
Reception[edit]
Critics[edit]
Upon release, The Eras Tour received acclaim from critics,[116][117][118] and was recognized as "the must-see movie of the season", providing a compelling representation of the live performance on the screen.[119][112] On the review aggregator website Rotten Tomatoes, 99% of 92 critics' reviews are positive, with an average rating of 8.4/10. The website's consensus reads: "Taylor Swift: The Eras Tour delivers exactly what it promises: A smoothly directed, impeccably performed documentary capturing the concert event of the year."[120] Metacritic, which uses a weighted average, assigned the film a score of 82 out of 100, based on 30 critics, indicating "universal acclaim".[121] It was the best reviewed musical movie of 2023, as per Rotten Tomatoes.[122]
Lina Das of The Daily Telegraph and Keiran Southern of The Sunday Times praised the film's energy and spectacle. Southern felt the film surpassed the live show in some aspects, with the camera work putting the audience "onto the stage with Swift".[123][124] Kristen Lopez of TheWrap dubbed the film "a bombastic celebration of joy and color" and a "spectacle of sound",[125] whereas Christy Lemire of RogerEbert.com called it a "technical spectacle" and a "dazzling achievement".[126] Reviews from Angie Han of The Hollywood Reporter,[17] Ann Hornaday of The Washington Post,[127] Ludovic Hunter-Tilney of Financial Times,[128] Rob Sheffield of Rolling Stone,[129] and Bilal Qureshi of NPR called the film an impressive and immersive work.[130] New York's Craig Jenkins and Little White Lies' Lillian Crawford praised the cinematography for its portrayal of Swift's musicianship.[131][132] Katie Campione of Deadline Hollywood emphasized the visuals, energy, and vibrance,[133] while Tim Grierson of Screen International felt it was a both rousing and intimate view of Swift's musical dexterity.[134] Peter Travers, writing for ABC News, said the film "beautifully accentuates [Swift's] gifts for artistic reinvention."[135]
Analysis[edit]
Critics emphasized that The Eras Tour is a straightforward concert film and not a standard music documentary. They highlighted the absence of "docu-style elements"—such as interviews, behind-the-scenes or archived footage—in the film, calling it a concert film "in the true sense".[41][148]
Several publications interpreted The Eras Tour as a cinematic tribute to Swift's music and her fandom. They attributed the film's success to its emphasis on communal experience and observed its feminist aspects, celebrating femininity and the female movie-going experience. Journalist Jo Ellison, writing for Financial Times, said that Swift's "supremacy" over the entertainment industry has resulted in much discourses over what her "secret sauce" could be, and opined that Swift "infuriates male critics by not looking like a sexpot".[172][173][129][174]
