Movie

The Sam Wrench-directed concert film easily debuts atop the domestic chart on a sluggish weekend as it posts the biggest opening ever for a concert film with an estimated $95-97 million.

• Oct 16, 2023

AceShowbiz - "Taylor Swift: The Eras Tour" has serenaded its way to the top of North American box office. Amid the fanfare of Taylor Swift's sold-out concert tour, her latest concert film has also become a big hit domestically and globally.

The movie, which was filmed in August at three shows at SoFi Stadium in Inglewood, California, easily crushed the competition on an otherwise sluggish weekend with an estimated $95-97 million from its first four days in U.S. theaters.

Studios typically report a firmer number at this point, but "without clear comparisons, Sunday box office projections remain a range," the film's official distributor AMC Theatres said in a note to press. Rivals have suggested the final tally could be closer to $94 million, which would still set an impressive record.

The blockbuster opening marks the highest ever for a concert film, more than tripling the $31 million earned by Miley Cyrus' "Best of Both Worlds" which debuted in 2008. On its first weekend, "The Eras Tour" movie already exceeded the total revenue of any concert movie in the last 50 years, beating the $73 million earned by "Justin Bieber: Never Say Never" in 2011, not adjusted for inflation.

"The Eras Tour" movie also stands neck-and-neck with "Joker", which opened to $96.2 million in 2019, for the biggest October opening of all time, not adjusted for inflation. It is also likely to be the seventh biggest opening of 2023 to date.

Overseas, "The Eras Tour" opened between $31 million and $33 million from 94 countries for a worldwide start of $126 million to $130 million. It's the biggest global opening ever for a concert film, beating Michael Jackson's "This Is It" which opened to $74.3 million worldwide in 2009, not adjusted for inflation.

"This is a phenomenal number," says Paul Dergarabedian, the senior media analyst for Comscore. "To have a blockbuster-style opening weekend for a concert film is unprecedented."

Echoing the sentiment, Shawn Robbins, the chief analyst at Box Office Pro, weighs in, "It's such a unique achievement because we're talking about a tentpole-level opening that didn’t exist on the planning calendar a few months ago."

Coming in a distant second at the domestic box office, "The Exorcist: Believer" added an estimated $11 million on its second weekend, bringing its total domestic tally to $44.9 million so far.

"PAW Patrol: The Mighty Movie" also falls one spot to No. 3 with an estimated $7 million, followed by "Saw X" with approximately $5.7 million. "The Creator" rounds out the top five with an estimated $4.3 million.

Top 10 of North America Box Office (Oct. 13-Oct. 15, 2023):

1. "Taylor Swift: The Eras Tour" - $95-97 million
2. "The Exorcist: Believer" - $11 million
3. "PAW Patrol: The Mighty Movie" - $7 million
4. "Saw X" - $5.7 million
5. "The Creator" - $4.3 million
6. "A Haunting in Venice" - $2.05 million
7. "The Blind" - $2.02 million
8. "The Nun II" - $1.6 million
9. "The Equalizer" - $960,000
10. "Dumb Money" - $920,000