Summary

• Taylor Swift: The Eras Tour has become the highest-grossing concert movie of all time, breaking records with its $123 million opening weekend and suring Justin Bieber: Never Say Never.
• The movie had an unorthodox release strategy, causing other films to change their release dates. It generated $26 million in pre-sale tickets at AMC Theatres and broke the single-day ticket sales record in less than three hours.
• Taylor Swift: The Eras Tour set multiple records, including the highest first-day ticket sales in 2023, the first concert movie to sur $100 million, and the first concert movie to remain No.1 on the US box office for two weeks.

Taylor Swift has dominated music charts for years and now, she’s now dominating the box office with her record-breaking concert film every Taylor Swift: The Eras Tour song again has meant a box office boom.

Compared to other music documentaries and tour films, Taylor Swift: The Eras Tour had an unorthodox release strategy that started making headlines in October. When Swift struck an unexpected distribution deal with AMC and Cinemark Theatres and got special permission to continue production amidst the SAG-AFTRA strike, the movie release calendar experienced quite a reshuffle. Fearing a box office clash, many movies had to change their release dates at the last moment. Produced on a budget of $10-20 million, Taylor Swift: The Eras Tour already made $160 million at the box office within its first week, allowing it to break records.

8 Highest Single-Day Ticket Sales For AMC

Before audiences could watch Taylor Swift: The Eras Tour in theaters on October 13, it had already generated a staggering $26 million in presale tickets at AMC Theaters (as reported by Variety). AMC, which is the world's biggest theater chain and the movie's official distributor, revealed that The Eras Tour broke the single-day ticket sales record of 2021's Spider-Man: No Way Home which held the record with $16.9 million in pre-sale tickets. The concert movie broke the Marvel production's record in less than three hours after tickets went on sale. The actual pre-sale numbers were even higher as AMC’s rivals like Regal and Cinemark also released the tickets in advance.

7 Biggest Concert Movie Opening Weekend

In the domestic box office, Taylor Swift: The Eras Tour had a majestic opening weekend as it raked in a record-breaking collection of $92.8 million. This made it the biggest concert movie opening weekend, a record earlier held by 2008’s Hannah Montana and Miley Cyrus: Best of Both Worlds Concert. The Disney musical concert movie’s opening collection of $31.1 million was three times less than what The Eras Tour earned. Even Canadian popstar Justin Bieber’s highly successful 2011 tour movie Justin Bieber: Never Say Never could gross only $29.5 million in its opening weekend. The Eras Tour set an unprecedented record.

6 Highest Grossing Concert Movie Of All Time (Domestic & Worldwide)

In of domestic and worldwide earnings, Taylor Swift: The Eras Tour has earned the crown for the highest-grossing concert movie of all time. The Eras Tour’s $123 million opening included estimates of $95-97 million from the United States with another $31-33 million coming internationally. Previously, Justin Bieber: Never Say Never held this record with an American collection of $73 million and a global collection of $99 million. Michael Jackson: This Is It might seem like the highest-grossing concert movie (worldwide collection of $261 million) but it’s usually discounted from the conversation because it mostly featured the rehearsals for a concert that never happened.

5 Highest First-Day Ticket Sales In 2023

As revealed by ticketing service Fandango, Taylor Swift: The Eras Tour set a new record for the highest first-day ticket sales in 2023. This makes the movie the ranks of other blockbusters with high first-day ticket cycles like Star Wars: The Force Awakens, Spider-Man: No Way Home, and Avengers: Endgame. Deadline also reported the movie garnered more than $37 million in first-day pre-sale revenue in the United States, suring Star Wars: The Force Awakens' $20 million and ranking second only to Avengers: Endgame's $50 million. As Fandango senior VP Jerramy Hainline said, “...the concert film is performing like the superhero she [Taylor Swift] is”.

4 First Concert Movie To Sur $100 Million

Within its opening weekend itself, the Taylor Swift concert movie had sured $100 million. This is a rare feat that no other concert movie could achieve. To put matters into perspective, the lifetime collection of Justin Bieber: Never Say Never was also just a million short of that number (per Box Office Mojo). Even Hannah Montana and Miley Cyrus: Best of Both Worlds Concert ended its theatrical run with a collection of $70.6 million. With Taylor Swift: The Eras Tour having comfortably crossed the $100 million mark and eyeing global territories now, it has already managed to cross the $150 million threshold too.

3 First Concert Movie To Remain No.1 On The US Box Office For Two Weeks

In its opening week, Taylor Swift: The Eras Tour didn’t face stiff competition from any Hollywood blockbuster considering how The Exorcist: Believer had moved up its release by a week. But in its second week, eyes were also set on Martin Scorsese’s highly-anticipated Western thriller Killers of the Flower Moon, which was led by a marketable star Leonardo DiCaprio. And yet, the Swifties ensured that The Eras Tour still remained at the top spot at the American box office. The Scorsese epic did perform well with an opening collection of $23 million (per Variety) but was eclipsed by The Eras Tour drawing in $33.1 million that weekend.

2 Highest Maximum Theaters For A Concert Movie

Taylor Swift: The Eras Tour initially sought a major studio until the unexpected deal with AMC Theatres. At the same time, other rival theaters and independent theaters also got a stake in releasing the movie. As a result, The Eras Tour opened in more theaters than any concert film before now with 3850 theaters as per Taylor Swift’s best documentaries and concert movies were previously released directly on streaming services like Disney+ and Netflix.

1 Highest Pre-Sale Ticket Numbers In Mexico, Australia And The UK

During the first days of pre-sale in Mexico, Taylor Swift: The Eras Tour sold a record 292,500 tickets at Cinépolis theaters, breaking the mark set by Avengers: Infinity War (as per Cinepremiere). The Sydney Morning Herald also reported that it grossed more than $300,000 in the first 12 hours of pre-sales at the Australian multiplex chain Hoyts. This collection tripled the first-day pre-sales of the previous record-holder Avatar: The Way of Water. The Evening Standard added that in the United Kingdom, the film sured 2022's BTS: Permission to Dance on Stage for the greatest first-day and first-week pre-sales for a concert film.

Sources: Variety [1, 2], Deadline [1, 2] Fandango, Box Office Mojo, Cinepremiere, The Sydney Morning Herald, The Evening Standard