Taylor Swift is conquering the box office and as of writing this Taylor Swift: The Eras Tour is rated 100% fresh on Rotten Tomatoes and AMC Entertainment, which is distributing the film, reported last week that presales for its theaters had already exceeded $100 million for the full run of Swift’s film.
In fact, the film could generate as much as $150 million during its debut, a figure that would make it the highest opening of a concert film EVER and also one of the highest openings of 2023!
On August 31, the pop princess announced that she’d be bringing her massively popular global concert phenomenon to AMC theaters all across North America on October 13, 2023. All loyal Swifties know that 13 is Taylor Swift’s favorite number.
On October 11, Swift took over The Grove in Los Angeles for the world premiere. The shopping center was taken over by mobs of Swifties clambering to get a photo with the pop princess before the screening.
Shortly before her world premiere, the singer posted on her official Instagram that she was adding an additional day to the screenings, as well as more showings on more screens throughout the weekend:
Some lucky critics were at the screening at The Grove and here’s what they are saying:
Angie Han from Hollywood Reporter shared, “But just as interesting is what hasn’t changed about her. Whether she’s presenting herself as a fresh-faced country gal or an embittered outcast, Swift’s strength as a musician has always resided not in her voice (pretty though hardly virtuosic) but in her songwriting. The Eras Tour features a hell of a flex on that front in the 10-minute version of “All Too Well.” The staging has been stripped down to almost nothing — no twirling dancers or elaborate sets or splashy videos distract from Swift and her guitar, alone in the center of a giant stage. Yet her words, and her impassioned delivery of them, prove more than enough to make her accounting of a doomed love affair feel as vivid and intimate as our own deepest memories.”
Kristen Lopez from TheWrap said: “The near three-hour presentation of Swift’s final U.S. tour dates, filmed in Los Angeles at Sofi Stadium, is a bombastic celebration of not only Swift’s musical catalog but friendship, joy and color that benefits from being on the biggest screen possible.”
Melissa Ruggieri from USA Today noted, “At the premiere, it was difficult to tell the screams from the crowd on film from the cheers in the audience, and throughout, several fans stood to sing and dance along. By the time the show-closing “Karma” rolled out, the atmosphere felt like the encore at a concert, a joyful encounter full of love that indicated Swift isn’t the only one having a blast at her shows.”
Tim Grierson from Screen International said, “A dazzling flex of musical muscle, Taylor Swift: The Eras Tour finds the global superstar delivering a rousing big-screen experience that runs nearly three hours while demonstrating her dexterity with different genres. Drawing from three sold-out shows at SoFi Stadium in Los Angeles in August, the concert film captures the tour’s central conceit — the 33-year-old artist selects a handful of tracks from each of her nine most recent albums — and what comes across strongest is her thrilling evolution over the last two decades. Filled with both spectacle and strikingly intimate moments, The Eras Tour is almost too much of a good thing — so many hits, so many memorable set pieces, so many peaks.”
REELated:
Chris Willman from Variety said, “Apart from those digital title superimpositions, you’d be hard-pressed to point to any wrong moves Wrench makes in transferring the show from stage to screen. Obviously, fans get a lot more really, really close face-time with Swift, to the point where they might ask questions like: How is it possible that her hair gets a little moist, but we never see her actually break a sweat? There are greater elements to ponder via the intimacy a big screen provides of course, like how adept Swift is at singing through what sure feels like real anger in “All Too Well (10-Minute Version),” or charmingly miming the comic version of that in the funnier songs, from “Blank Space” to “Vigilante Shit.” And the film magnifies all of it, in a next-best-thing-to-being-there way (even though no one who missed it will completely shed their FOMO).”
Maria Sherman: “It is massive, but nothing could exactly recreate the decibel-bursting exhilaration of a live music performance, particularly one at this scale. But in this format, Swift gets as close as possible — and for her, being an exception to the rule is par for the course. In a fractured, algorithmic music industry, Swift is a final exemplar of monoculture, a figure recognizable by most. And because of that fact, she’s able to fully communicate her power in a concert film with little to no dialogue.”
Cindy White: “Even if you’re not a Taylor Swift fan, you’ve got to appreciate the level of commitment and theatricality she brings to the stage and the screen. Not to mention the business savvy she showed by cutting out the big studios and securing the best possible deal for herself directly with AMC Theaters for the exclusive distribution rights to the film (it’s the least the chain could do in exchange for Swift saving their entire business model). Some of you non-Swifties may find yourself being dragged to the theater to see this with a loved one. You won’t have a miserable time. Don’t be surprised to see audience members singing and dancing in their seats. You might even feel like joining them.”
Katie Campione from Deadline said, “Even if you have been treated to the live show, The Eras Tour still gives everyone in the audience a chance to experience every song from the best seat in the house. You’ll get up close and personal with Swift and also see sweeping shots that put the stage’s stunning visuals on full display.”
Katie Atkinson from Billboard said, “Whether you never attended The Eras Tour or you went dozens of times, you will leave this movie with a new perspective of the career-spanning trek. While front-row fans or the JumboTron cameras might have captured a cute facial expression or dance move here and there, the cameras caught everything, making it feel like you’re onstage with Swift and crew. There are some impressive camera shots leaving you scratching your head about how they achieved them — like in “Mastermind,” when a camera swivels 360 degrees around Swift but then a wide shot shows no onstage cameras in sight. But the film’s best trick might be providing a look at Swift’s own perspective throughout the night, when you can truly marvel at the size of the massive stage and catwalk that the singer/songwriter somehow makes feel small or when you can take in just how far fans span across the 70,000-person SoFi Stadium crowd.”
Regardless of what the critics say, Taylor Swift had an absolute blast watching herself on the big screen:
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