No bad blood here! Taylor Swift’s concert film delivers big numbers
“Taylor Swift: The Eras Tour” movie debuted at number one at the box office over the weekend, nabbing an estimated $95 to $97 million in domestic ticket sales, according to AMC (AMC).
Industry estimates have come in slightly lower, hovering at just above $93 million, which would still be the second-best domestic opening weekend for the month of October — following 2019’s “Joker.”
The concert film captured an additional $31 million to $33 million overseas, the theater chain projected, making it the best debut of all time for any concert film.
Adding onto records, the film delivered $13 million globally for Imax (IMAX), resulting in the biggest Imax opening ever for a film by a musical artist — concert or documentary.
“It’s really kind of an outside-the-box approach to moviegoing right now and something that I think we could see more of going going forward,” Shawn Robbins, chief analyst at Box Office Pro, told Yahoo Finance Live on Monday.
Despite the solid showing, AMC and Cinemark (CNK) shares moved lower in afternoon trading on Monday, sinking about 1.5% and 3%, respectively. Imax shares traded mostly flat.
Top 2023 domestic box office films
The release of the film comes at a critical time for theaters as the nearly five-month-long writers strike caused multiple disruptions to the release schedule. Most notably, Warner Bros.’ (WBD) “Dune” sequel was delayed to March 2024 after it was originally scheduled for November 2023.
Other studios have also reshuffled their respective programming with Hollywood actors still on the picket lines. The union, SAG-AFTRA, accused the the Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers (AMPTP) of “bullying tactics” after talks between the two sides broke down over viewership bonuses and regulations surrounding AI.
“This is a weekend theater owners have been very thankful for in the wake of a few delays caused by the writers and actors strikes over recent months,” Robbins said. “Here we are talking about an almost $100 million opening weekend that was basically created out of thin air. This is not something something that was on the industry’s radar just as recently as the end of summer.”
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