Are you ready for it? Taylor Swift is here to save movie theaters.
Her “Eras Tour” concert film, which opens theatrically on Oct. 13, has already earned a massive $26 million in presale tickets at AMC Theatres. It set a single-day ticket sale record for AMC, besting the benchmark previously held by “Spider-Man: No Way Home” ($16.9 million) less than three hours after tickets went on sale, according to the cinema chain.
This figure is only for presales at AMC, meaning the actual number of tickets sold is much higher. AMC is the world’s biggest theater chain and the film’s official distrubutor, but the “Eras Tour” concert film is also playing at rival circuits like Regal and Cinemark, as well as independent locations.
Separately, the ticketing service Fandango reported that “The Eras Tour” has broken its record for biggest first-day ticket sales for 2023. Without giving specific numbers, Fandango says pre-sales rank among blockbusters like “Avengers: Endgame,” “Star Wars: The Force Awakens,” “Spider-Man: No Way Home” at similar points in their sale cycles.
“Taylor Swift is giving moviegoing fans and the entire industry the ultimate gift by bringing ‘Taylor Swift: The Eras Tour’ concert film to the big screen,” said Jerramy Hainline, senior VP at Fandango Ticketing. “Not only is Taylor Swift’s concert film the best first-day ticket seller of the year on Fandango, but the concert film is performing like the superhero she is and ranking among the best first-day ticket sellers of all time from franchises like Marvel, Star Wars, DC Comics and more.”
Swift’s concert film, a rendering of her record-breaking stadium tour, is going to be a huge boon to movie theaters this fall, especially after the vacancy left by “Dune: Part II,” which recently moved from November to March 2024. With this level of demand, exhibitors privately believe a $100 million-plus opening weekend is possible, which is unprecedented business for this kind of movie. In fact, only five films this year — “Barbie,” “The Super Mario Bros. Movie,” “Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3,” “Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse” and “Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania” — have hit triple digits in their debuts.
“Taylor Swift: The Eras Tour” will play at least four showtimes per day on Thursdays, Fridays, Saturdays and Sundays at every AMC theater location in the United States. Now due to this unprecedented demand, AMC is already adding additional showtimes to increase capacity where it’s “necessary and available.”
Prices, in true Swift fashion, are numerically loaded with tickets at $19.89 for adults, $13.13 for children and seniors, on standard screens. Imax and Dolby tickets will cost more.