Box Office Update: Taylor Swift: The Eras Tour eyeing October Record

Numbers have begun rolling in and it is a Taylor Swift kind of weekend with the singers Eras Tour looking to pull in between $92-$105 million per Deadline. That number comes from a $39 million Friday, although that number is unofficial as the official Friday numbers haven’t been released yet. If that $39 million number sticks, it will represent the second largest October Friday gross ever, just behind Joker’s $39.3. If I was a betting man, I’d say Swift will claim that record as well as the all time October opening weekend record which currently sits with Joker at $96.2 million. 

This number represents the best opening for a movie featuring Taylor Swift, beating out such classics as Amsterdam ($6.4 million opening, $31.2 million worldwide total), Cats ($6.6 million opening, $75.5 million worldwide total), The Giver ($12.3 million opening, $66.9 million worldwide total) and Valentines Day ($56.2 million opening, $216.5 million worldwide total). That number also beats out Justin Bieber: Never Say Never’s lifetime gross of just over $99 million worldwide (although Michael Jackson: This is It had a worldwide total of $261 million, that isn’t an out and out concert film as it is a documentary chronicling the creation of that tour before the king of pop’s untimely death.)

No doubt this is an amazing opening for an artist who has cross over appeal among all demographics (my favorite bands are Metallica and Between The Buried and Me and even I can get down with some Taylor Swift songs!) The headlines will surely be about the record breaking opening for the film, but my question is: this movie reportedly had over $100 million in pre-sales… why is it not flying higher?? In our predictions from Thursday, I asked the question if this film was one where the people who were dying to see it had already pre-purchased their tickets and thus walk up business wouldn’t be that strong. That appears to be the case. This is an event release where it is distributed by a movie chain (AMC is the distributor for the film) where ticket prices are at a premium (in my area that number is $25 for premium screens such as IMAX and Dolby while regular screens are selling for $20) and you can’t use any of your theater subscription slots for the film (meaning if you are an AMC Stubs A-List subscriber, you still have to shell out the $20-$25 to see the film. I wonder if that restriction will be lifted in subsequent weeks?) 

So even though this movie is a massive success, I do wonder what type of legs it will have in the coming weeks. I will admit that it is a massive event film however as on Thursday I went to theaters with a few friends to see the 30th anniversary release of Hocus Pocus (which looked amazing back up on the big screen) and after the film, around 11pm, there was a lady dressed in scrubs trying to get into the theater. She asked us if the concessions were still open because she had just gotten off work and wanted to buy her daughter the exclusive Taylor Swift popcorn bucket and cup. Sadly, they weren’t open any longer. Hopefully she was able to get her exclusive popcorn bucket the next day as they appear to be going for over $50 on ebay and I saw prices of over $250 for the Popcorn bucket/ cup combo (I hate ebay resellers! They buy up all of the stock so that normal people, like that hard working lady I saw at the theater, can’t get one for her daughter.)

Coming in second place with a much better hold than I expected is The Exorcist: Believer with what is looking like a sub 60% drop and a second weekend in the $11 million range while Paw Patrol: The Mighty Movie sees a third weekend in the $5-$6 million range. Saw X is seeing another solid hold in its third weekend with just around a 30% drop and a weekend take of between $5-$6 million while The Creator rounds out the top five with an estimated $3-$4 million weekend.

Were you one of the many who took in a delightful Taylor Swift concert on the big screen this weekend? If so, let us know your thoughts in the comments and don’t forget to check back tomorrow when we have a full rundown on this weekend’s record breaking weekend.