On August 31, Taylor Swift announced that she’d be bringing her massively popular global concert phenomenon to AMC theaters all across North America and after a 2 ½ month-long anticipation build up, Taylor Swift: The Eras Tour finally made its debut at the box office this weekend.
Enthusiasm had been mounting for this extraordinary release, marked by record-breaking advance ticket sales and Taylor Swift dominating the internet with her frequent appearances in the luxury boxes of NFL stadiums, which has only fueled the hype further. In response to the “unprecedented demand,” the singer posted on her official Instagram that exhibitors scheduled early Thursday evening and Friday daytime showings in the same week.
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In March, The Eras Tour made its stadium debut, with Taylor Swift performing at over 50 stadiums across the United States. This tour marked a significant milestone as it emerged as her most financially rewarding one yet, accumulating an astonishing $780 million in total revenue. According to Forbes’ estimations, Taylor Swift’s personal earnings from this remarkable tour are estimated to be in the vicinity of $305 million.
Taylor Swift: The Eras Tour movie was filmed during three performances at SoFi Stadium in Inglewood, California in August 2023. Notably, the production was given the green light to proceed by SAG-AFTRA, despite their strike in 2023, and it operated within a budget spanning from $10 to $20 million.
Once all was said and done, The Eras Tour delivered by grossing an impressive $96.0 million, securing the #1 spot at the box office with a considerable margin. If this number holds, The Eras Tour will rank as the second-highest October opening in history, narrowly missing the record set by Joker, which earned $96.2 million during its first three days from October 2-4, 2019. In comparison, the total domestic box office revenue for all films reached $135.1 million, a substantial increase from the previous year when Halloween Ends opened to $40.1 million during the same weekend.
Earlier this month AMC said that the movie had already exceeded over $100 million in advance ticket sales, “It took less than 24 hours for the Taylor Swift The Eras Tour concert film to shatter AMC’s US record for the highest ticket-sales revenue during a single day in AMC’s 103-year history.”
Many industry experts had projected an opening weekend gross of $100 million to $110 million for The Eras Tour, so the actual figures fell slightly below these optimistic estimates. Nonetheless, the film commanded a significant 71% of the total North American box office. When stacked up against other major blockbuster openings this year, The Eras Tour takes the #6.
The year 2023 witnessed an impressive lineup of top-grossing movie openings during their three-day weekends. Topping the charts was Barbie with a remarkable $162.0 million in earnings, closely followed by The Super Mario Bros. Movie at $146.4 million. Not far behind, Spider-Man: Across The Spider-Verse swung into third place with $120.7 million, while Guardians Of The Galaxy Vol. 3 and Ant-Man And The Wasp: Quantumania secured the fourth and fifth positions with $118.4 million and $106.1 million, respectively. Notably, Taylor Swift: The Eras Tour made a significant entrance into this exclusive club with $96.0 million, solidifying its place as the sixth top-grossing movie opening of the year!
A more pertinent point of comparison lies in how The Eras Tour stacks up against other concert films. The reigning record holder in this niche was Justin Bieber: Never Say Never, which graced screens on February 11, 2011, reaping $29.5 million in North America during its inaugural three days. In the long run, it amassed $73.0 million domestically and a staggering $99.0 million worldwide. Taylor Swift: The Eras Tour has already stormed through these milestones within its opening weekend, setting the stage for potentially tripling those remarkable figures.
What truly sets The Eras Tour apart is not only its financial triumph but also the resounding applause it has garnered. Both critics and the public have wholeheartedly embraced Taylor Swift: The Eras Tour, awarding the movie an outstanding 100% and 99% rating, respectively, on Rotten Tomatoes. These accolades stand as some of the highest in the platform’s history.
In its second weekend at the box office, The Exorcist: Believer found itself in the #2 spot, managing $11.0 million in new ticket sales but experiencing a substantial 58% drop from its debut. The horror sequel’s ten-day total stands at $44.9 million, and with a production cost of $30 million, it faces challenges in turning a profit, especially considering its harsh reception on Rotten Tomatoes. Critics rated it at a brutal 22%, while audiences were not much kinder at 54%.
In the #3 spot, Paramount’s animated Paw Patrol: The Mighty Movie continued to perform well with young family audiences, accumulating a domestic gross of $49.9 million in 17 days. The film is projected to end with $65 million domestically and $130 million worldwide, having been produced with a $30 million budget. This translates to a favorable 4.3:1 ratio of worldwide gross to production costs, making the prospect of a sequel highly likely.
Lionsgate’s Saw X claimed the #4 spot, securing an additional $5.7 million with only a 27% drop from the previous weekend. The film’s earnings continue to parallel those of the original Saw in 2004, and it’s anticipated to conclude its run with $100 million worldwide. With a modest production cost of $13 million, the worldwide gross-to-production budget ratio is an impressive 7:1.
Coming in at #5, 20th Century’s The Creator held on with $4.3 million, experiencing a 31% decline. After 17 days, the original Sci-Fi feature has amassed a domestic total of only $32.4 million and is expected to struggle to reach $90 million worldwide. Given the film’s $80 million production cost and high hopes for it to become a franchise, this outcome is rather disappointing for Disney.
With a surprisingly low budget, the film needs to generate around $280 million in total earnings (double the production and marketing costs) to break even, and this calculation doesn’t even take into account potential tax incentives or additional revenue streams that could help offset the overhead.
In its fifth week at the box office, A Haunting in Venice from Disney displayed steady performance, maintaining the #6 position with just a 24% decrease from the previous week and earning $2,052,000.
At #7, Fathom’s The Blind is in its third week at the box office, dropping two spots from last weekend to earn $2 million, with a cumulative total of $13,334,000. Taking the #8 spot, Warner Bros. The Nun II, in its sixth week, retained its position from the previous weekend. It also offers Paid Video On Demand options and made $1.6 million, bringing its cumulative earnings to just under $84 million.
Taking the #9 spot is Sony’s The Equalizer 3, now in its seventh week. It slipped one position from the previous weekend and is also available on Paid Video On Demand, earning $960K, with a cumulative total of $90,567,000.
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Finally, in the #10 spot, we have Sony’s Dumb Money, now in its fifth week, down two positions from the previous weekend. It garnered $920K, resulting in a cumulative total of $12.6 million.
The Top 10
1. Taylor Swift The Eras Tour (Variance for AMC) NEW – Cinemascore: A+; Metacritic: 89; Est. budget: $15 million
$96,000,000 in 3,850 theaters; PTA (per theater average): $24,935; Cumulative: $96,000,000
2. The Exorcist: Believer (Universal) Week 2 – Last week #1
$11,000,000 (-58%) in 3,684 (+21) theaters; PTA: $2,986; Cumulative: $44,927,000
3. PAW Patrol: The Mighty Movie (Paramount) Week 3; Last weekend #2
$7,000,000 (-38%) in 3,707 (-320) theaters; PTA: $1,888; Cumulative: $49,887,000
4. Saw X (Lionsgate) Week 3; Last weekend #3
$5,700,000 (-27%) in 3,058 (-204) theaters; PTA: $1,864; Cumulative: $41,400,000
5. The Creator (Disney) Week 3; Last weekend #4
$4,300,000 (-1,453%) in 2,960 (-720) theaters; PTA: $1,453; Cumulative: $32,406,000
6. A Haunting in Venice (Disney) Week 5; Last weekend #6
$2,052,000 (-24%) in 2,290 (-135) theaters; PTA: $896; Cumulative: $38,994,000
7. The Blind (Fathom) Week 3; Last weekend #5
$2,023,000 (-37%) in 1,165 (-142) theaters; PTA: $1,735; Cumulative: $13,334,000
8. The Nun II (WB) Week 6; Last weekend #7; also on PVOD
$1,615,000 (-38%) in 2,128 (-364) theaters; PTA: $759; Cumulative: $83,748,000
9. The Equalizer 3 (Sony) Week 7; Last weekend #9; also on PVOD
$960,000 (-47%) in 1,524 (-2) theaters; PTA: $630; Cumulative: $90,567,000
10. Dumb Money (Sony) Week 5; Last weekend #8
$920,000 (-57%) in 2,276 (-561) theaters; PTA: $404; Cumulative: $12,626,000
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