(New York) Pre-sales of tickets for Taylor Swift’s film, filmed during the first part of her tour, have exceeded $100 million worldwide, theater operator AMC announced Thursday, making it already sets a record for a feature-length concert film.
Taylor Swift-The Eras Tour is scheduled to release on October 13 in 8,500 theaters across 100 countries.
The film is already guaranteed to become the highest-grossing concert film, dethroning Justin Bieber: Never Say Never (99 million), released in 2011.
This Is It, which grossed $261 million at the worldwide box office, is not considered a concert film because it only documents the performance preparations of Michael Jackson, who died before performing on stage.
Eras was initially only to be released in the United States, but the singer ultimately chose to make it a global event, although the tour will include a second part next year, with dozens of dates in South America, Australia, Asia, Europe, as well as the United States and Canada.
Asked by AFP, an AMC spokesperson specified that the $100 million in revenue concerned all the cinemas which will broadcast the film, including the Cineplex networks in Canada or Cinepolis in Mexico.
Of the 8,500 theaters, 4,000 are in North America.
The all-time gross for an October debut weekend in North America is $96 million, set by Joker in 2019.
Taylor Swift-The Eras Tour could exceed 100 million during these three days (October 13 to 15) in North America, according to Jeff Bock of specialist firm Exhibitor Relations.
The 2h48 film contains footage shot during three of the artist’s concerts at SoFi Stadium in Inglewood, a suburb of Los Angeles, in early August.
The Eras tour currently has 146 dates.
According to the professional live arts magazine Pollstar, each concert generates $13 million in revenue, which would bring the total to around $1.9 billion.
Never has an artist or group crossed the symbolic billion-dollar threshold.
A little more than a month after Taylor Swift’s announcement, AMC indicated Monday that singer Beyoncé would follow suit and release, in theaters, on December 1, a documentary inspired by her Renaissance tour, which she just to complete in the United States.
In Wall Street electronic trading after the close, AMC stock was up nearly 2%.