Taylor Swift's Eras Tour film premieres early due to high demand
Taylor Swift's Eras Tour film will hit theaters a day earlier than scheduled. Originally set for October 13th, the concert film will now be available on October 12th due to overwhelming demand. With over 350 sold-out IMAX (IMAX) showings across 45 global markets, IMAX CEO Richard Gelfond reveals that even The Exorcist had to delay its release by a week due to the exceptional demand for Taylor's film.
"We've seen demand like this, but we've seen it for big blockbuster movies. I don't think there's ever been a concert film like this ever before," Gelfond told Yahoo Finance, adding: "...The question is will we ever see it again?"
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Video Transcript
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SEANA SMITH: Well, Swifties rejoice. Taylor Swift's surprising fans by bringing her "Eras Tour" to theaters a day earlier than planned. Early access showing begins today in the US and in Canada thanks to, quote, "unprecedented demand" for the concert film.
Before the added showtimes, advanced ticket sales had already surpassed $100 million. Now IMAX upping the theater experience for fans with more immersive video quality and dynamic audio. More than 350 shows at IMAX theaters have already sold out.
With more on how Taylor could shake up the movie industry, we want to bring in Richard Gelfond, CEO of IMAX. Richard it's great to see you again. I'd love to get your perspective on this.
Clearly, you've been in the industry for a very long time. Demand for this concert here at IMAX theaters, is it like anything that you've seen before? How would you characterize it?
RICHARD GELFOND: I think we've seen demand like this, but we've seen it for big blockbuster movies. I don't think there's ever been a concert film like this ever before. And by the way, we could talk about it in a minute, the question is, will we ever see it again? I think Taylor is such a unicorn, such a special talent.
This concert had so much publicity behind it. So many people couldn't see it, pent up demand. It's definitely a milestone, kind of, in the history of cinema in terms of excitement around a concert movie.
ALEXANDRA CANAL: And Richard, how critical is it that this concert movie is debuting now, especially since the fall slate is a lot more bare compared to the summer?
RICHARD GELFOND: Well, I think the timing is very fortunate and that's because of the writers strike, which recently settled and the actors strike, which is ongoing. A few things got moved around, so there was much more flexibility for exhibitors to show the concert film now. So for IMAX, fortunately for us, not a lot got moved around.
But the timing of this one is very interesting. Originally, "Exorcist" was supposed to open this weekend. But when Taylor got dated, for now "Exorcist" actually moved back a week. So this one was so powerful, it was able to change the theatrical release schedule, which, again, is unprecedented inside the industry. I think, if you said a concert movie was going to make studios move their movies, you wouldn't have believed that in the abstract.
