Movie theaters turned into concert venues this weekend as Swifties brought their dance moves and friendship bracelets to multiplexes across the country. The unparalleled enthusiasm helped propel Taylor Swift: The Eras Tour to a dominating, first-place debut between $95 million and $97 million in North America, AMC Theatres said Sunday. It's easily the biggest opening for a concert film of all time, and, not accounting for inflation, has made more than the $73 million Justin Bieber: Never Say Never earned in 2011. In today's dollars, that would be around $102 million, the AP reports. And if it comes in on the higher end of projections when totals are released Monday, it could be the biggest October opening ever.
A unique experiment in distribution, premium pricing, star power, and loose movie theater etiquette—more dancing and shouting than Star Wars premiere—have made the film a hit. Compiled from Swift's summer shows at Southern California's SoFi Stadium, the film opened in 3,855 North American locations starting with Thursday evening previews. Those showings helped boost its opening day sum to $39 million, the second biggest ever for October, behind $39.3 million for Joker. Swift, who produced the film, went around the Hollywood studio system to distribute the film, making a deal directly with AMC, the largest exhibition company in the US. With her 274 million Instagram followers, Swift hardly needed a traditional marketing campaign to get the word out. And she added a cameo this weekend on Saturday Night Live.
Below are estimated ticket sales for Friday through Sunday at US and Canadian theaters, according to Comscore. Final domestic figures will be released Monday.
- Taylor Swift: The Eras Tour, $95 million to $97 million.
- The Exorcist: Believer, $11 million.
- Paw Patrol: The Mighty Movie, $7 million.
- Saw X, $5.7 million.
- The Creator, $4.3 million.
- A Haunting in Venice, $2.1 million.
- The Blind, $2 million.
- The Nun II, $1.6 million.
- The Equalizer 3, $960,000.
- Dumb Money, $920,000.
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