Beyoncé fans already have Friday, December 1 marked on their calendars. That’s the day the polymath’s concert documentary, Renaissance: A Film by Beyoncé, is set to hit theaters—and the day when the concert film box office records set by Taylor Swift: The Eras Tour might see their most significant challenger. And Beyoncé seems to be gearing up for that competition, dropping one last trailer for the film amid an American Thanksgiving tradition.
The surprise went down during Thursday’s NBC broadcast of the Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade. Introduced by Today show anchor/parade co-host Hoda Kotb, Beyoncé popped onto screens in a pre-taped prologue (did you actually think she’d bundle up and schlep to 6th Avenue to be there in person?), saying “Hey, it’s Beyoncé, wishing you and your family a very happy Thanksgiving. I’m so honored to share with you the first look at the new Renaissance film trailer.”
What followed reflects what we’ve heard about the film so far—that as opposed to a simple open-to-close concert film, it’s a mix of performance footage, artsy “visual album” segments, and a behind-the-scenes documentary look of the work that went into the 56-show Renaissance tour, which generated $579 million and is, thus far, “the highest-grossing tour by a female artist in history,” Entertainment Weekly noted last month.
The trailer begins with Beyoncé’s youngest daughter, Rumi Carter, filming her famous mom. “Rumi, can I teach you a trick? You have to turn it (the camera) to the side. Yeah, there we go,” Beyoncé says, as the trailer launches into on-stage footage featuring artists such as Megan Thee Stallion and Diana Ross.
The focus on her kids continues with footage of Blue Ivy Carter, Beyoncé’s eldest child with husband Jay-Z, performing on stage with her mom. “Time is my biggest obstacle,” Beyoncé says in a voiceover. “It’s impossible to not realize how fast it’s going when you’re looking through the eyes of your children.”
Speaking of children, eagle-eyed viewers will note that the original members of Beyoncé’s former group, Destiny’s Child, are also featured in the trailer. We see LaTavia Roberson and LeToya Luckett onscreen, as well as Kelly Rowland and Michelle Williams.
I think about all of my heroes and all that they endured,” the artist says in a voiceover. “I know that all of my struggle and sacrifice is opening the door for the next. They are the new beginning.”
“I have nothing to prove to anyone at this point, she concludes. “We are creating our own world. This is my reward. Nobody can take that away from me.”