Taylor Swift: The Eras Tour concert film tops $137 million in advance ticket sales
NEW YORK – Advance ticket sales for the film of Taylor Swift’s Eras tour have topped US$100 million (S$137 million) worldwide, American theatre operator AMC said on Thursday, making it the best-selling feature-length concert film in history.
Taylor Swift: The Eras Tour is due out on Oct 13 in 8,500 cinemas in 100 countries. It will be released in Singapore on Nov 3.
The film is already set to become the highest-grossing concert film ever, dethroning Justin Bieber: Never Say Never (2011), which made US$99 million.
Michael Jackson’s This Is It (2009), which grossed US$261 million worldwide, is not considered a concert film because it documents only the performance preparations of the pop star, who died before performing on stage.
Swift’s concert film was initially to be released only in the United States, but the singer eventually chose to make it a global event, even though her tour will include a second leg next year, with dozens of dates in South America, Australia, Asia, Europe, as well as the US and Canada.
An AMC spokesperson told AFP the US$100 million in revenue came from all the cinemas which will screen the film, including the Cineplex networks in Canada and Cinepolis in Mexico.
Of the 8,500 cinemas, 4,000 are in North America.
The all-time gross record for an October opening weekend in North America is US$96 million, set by Joker in 2019.
The Taylor Swift: The Eras Tour film could exceed US$100 million from Oct 13 to 15 in North America, according to Mr Jeff Bock, a senior box-office specialist of entertainment research company Exhibitor Relations.
The Eras tour currently has 146 dates. According to Pollstar, the industry magazine covering the performing arts, each concert generates US$13 million in revenue, which would bring the tour total to around US$1.9 billion.
Never before has an artiste or group crossed the symbolic billion-dollar threshold. - AFP
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