Greg Marcus, Chairman and CEO of Marcus Theaters, joins “The Claman Countdown” to discuss the impact of Taylor Swift’s concert film “Eras Tour” on the film industry.
Taylor Swift had a remarkably successful summer, with her Eras Tour grossing billions of dollars.
Now the pop icon is making the tour accessible to a new audience. Last week, “Taylor Swift: The Eras Tour,” a nearly three-hour film that features footage from the event, premiered in theaters. Although ticket sales were strong, industry experts speculate that Swift could have made a lot more money if she had made different decisions.
The big difference between Swift’s film and other films is that there is no Hollywood studio involved – instead, she has a deal directly with theaters.
TAYLOR SWIFT has scared the producer of the Exorcist sequel into pushing back the horror film’s release date
“Taylor Swift: The Eras Tour” debuted at the top of the box office this past weekend. (John Shearer/TAS23/Getty Images for TAS Rights Management / Getty Images)
That wasn’t necessarily a bad move – according to Variety, the film has already grossed $123 million worldwide, with noting that it grossed $90 million domestically. It cost an estimated $15 million to make, and without a studio to make cuts, that’s a pretty big profit margin.
The film took first place at the box office last weekend, and even though Martin Scorse’s highly anticipated film “Killers of the Flower Moon” drops out this weekend, “Eras Tour” is still expected to remain at number one.
Taylor Swift released her concert film directly into theaters instead of going through a studio. (Javier Vicencio / Eyepix Group/Future Publishing via Getty Images / Getty Images)
Notably, it is the highest-grossing concert film in U.S. history and the second highest-grossing debut in October.
Still, there are some things about the film that set it apart, and not necessarily in a good way. For one thing, Swift openly encouraged viewers to get up from their seats and dance and sing, which is certainly not typical movie theater etiquette — and something that many more traditional moviegoers certainly don’t appreciate.
TAYLOR SWIFTS ERAS TOUR leaves us after months of making history and causing chaos
As a nod to her album “1989,” she also lists ticket prices of $19.89 for adults and $13.13 for children and seniors – 13 is her favorite number.
Taylor Swift is expected to take the top spot at the box office again this week. (Hector Vivas/TAS23/Getty Images for TAS Rights Management / Getty Images)
For audiences in some regions, these prices are much higher than normal, with some noting a price difference of up to $10 between a Swift ticket and any other ticket for a performance during the same time period.
“It’s hard to resist a $90 million opening,” a studio executive told . “I think it’s great for the industry… but there was money left over because it wasn’t done by professionals.”
Another example of how different the release of Taylor Swift: The Eras Tour is from other films was the film’s opening: At the last minute, Swift announced that they would be releasing the film a full day early due to high demand , so the debut took place on a Thursday instead of Friday.
“Taylor Swift: The Eras Tour” is the highest-grossing concert film in U.S. history. (Tom Cooper/Getty Images)
A source at a leading independent film chain explained that the clear advantage here lay with the major cinema chains – AMC, Cinemark and Regal – telling : “It was pretty clear that only the three leading film chains had comprehensive knowledge and also were able to do this.” Their tickets were on sale from the start. And that led to virtually every other racetrack in America having to scramble and rewrite their schedules, readjust their planning for the coming months, and then also have the stress of, “What if we put tickets on sale?” and the website collapses?’”
Another source said: “Some of them [Thursday] The shows were doing well, and some were a ghost town. There are all these fans who bought tickets to what they thought was the first show [and] Many of them would end up in a fairly quiet theater. It was framed as if [Swift] I just decided that day, but I would be shocked if that was the case.
Due to popular demand, Taylor Swift released her film a day early. (Scott Eisen/Getty Images)
“I know the early shows didn’t hurt the grosses, but it didn’t bring a good reputation to the theaters. They were caught off guard,” another source shared.
GET FOX BUSINESS ON THE GO by CLICKING HERE
Something else that a more traditional release route could have helped with is marketing – the concert film’s audience is largely made up of one demographic, while statistics show Swift’s fan base is more diverse.
“Basically, it appealed to younger white women,” a studio sales source revealed. “We could have done something marketing-wise to attract more people.”
Film industry insiders have speculated about how Swift’s film could have been an even bigger financial success. (Kevin Winter/TAS23/Getty Images for TAS Rights Management / Getty Images)
Despite the difficulties, box office analyst Paul Dergarabedian seems confident that the unusual decisions behind the release of Swift’s film will ultimately be viewed positively.
CLICK HERE TO GET THE FOX NEWS APP
“The additional nearly $100 million in domestic box office that the Swift concert film adds to the bottom line will ultimately be worth the stress caused by this weekend’s unprecedented and unique release,” he told .