Taylor Swift: The Eras Tour arrived in movie theaters as a global phenomenon, and several box office records have already been broken.
33-year-old singer Taylor Swift continues to be among the most streamed and famous artists on the planet, with a loyal fanbase of "Swifties" behind her.
Her ongoing "Eras Tour" has been a worldwide hit, becoming the highest-grossing ever from a female artist and the second-highest-grossing tour of all-time behind only Elton John's "Farewell Yellow Brick Road Tour."
Now, Swift brought her many years of music to movie theaters with a new concert film that rejected Hollywood's major studios in a release targeted toward her most dedicated fans.
The Taylor Swift Movie's Box Office Records
According to The Hollywood Reporter, Taylor Swift: The Eras Tour is expected to gross $95 to $97 million at the domestic box office in its October 13-15 opening weekend, alongside a further $31 million and $33 million from 94 other countries.
As such, the concert movie is expected to open with a whopping $126 to $130 million worldwide, breaking several records.
Best Concert Movie Opening
Before now, the biggest concert movie opening went to Hannah Montana and Miley Cyrus: Best of Both Worlds Concert in 2008 with $31.1 million. A domestic opening of over $95 million more than triples the previous record, revealing the unprecedented interest in The Eras Tour.
Highest-Grossing Concert Film (Domestic)
Not only was the $95 million+ opening enough to make The Eras Tour the most lucrative concert movie opening ever, but it was enough to topple the $73 million total domestic run of the previous record holder, Justin Bieber: Never Say Never.
Highest-Grossing Concert Film (Worldwide)
With $31 to $33 million in international gross to support the U.S. figure of $95 to $97 million, The Eras Tour is estimated to take $126 to $130 million worldwide.
This will make the Taylor Swift flick the highest-grossing concert movie ever worldwide and even the first to ever cross $100 million, going far above the $99 million of Never Say Never.
Highest Single-Day Presales Ever
In a historic move, Taylor Swift was even able to steal a record away from Marvel Studios and the MCU, with an estimated $30 million in presales across AMC, Cinemark, and Regal toppling the $16 million record of Avengers: Endgame.
Highest Maximum Theaters For a Concert Movie
In a detail that was bound to only further The Eras Tour's box office success, the movie opened in more theaters than any concert film before now. The Taylor Swift release came to 3850 theaters, topping the record 3481 of Michael Jackson's This Is It in 2009.
Why Taylor Swift's Movie Records Are So Impressive
The Eras Tour is expected to stick around in theaters for several weeks to come and after its record-breaking opening weekend, fans and box office analysts are bound to be wondering how it will fair in the coming weeks.
Well, a major drop-off should be foreseen as most of Taylor Swift's most loyal fans who would turn out for this occasion are bound to have been in line for the opening weekend. And as the concert film reportedly struggles to pull in ordinary cinemagoers, the second weekend may drop sharply.
But that shouldn't tarnish anybody's image of The Eras Tour's success, as these accomplishments from a concert movie are truly historic, and paint a picture of just how strong Taylor Swift's fanbase has come to be.
Having only had a $10 to $20 million budget - via Puck - and being announced six weeks ago, with a presumably limited marketing spend, the tour's theatrical release is bound to draw massive profits that will leave major studios regretting letting it go.
At the time of writing, the exact opening figures beyond the estimated $95 to $97 million have yet to be released. But if the final total exceeds $96.2 million, it will beat Joker to become the biggest October opening ever.
Taylor Swift: The Eras Tour is playing now in theaters.
