“The greatest films of all time were never made,” singer-songwriter Taylor Swift said in her song, “the 1.” However, she proves herself wrong with the release of her record-shattering concert movie: “Taylor Swift: The Eras Tour.”
The Eras Tour garnered lots of media attention for Swift. Between her first show in Glendale, Arizona, to her more recent international shows, Swift continues to take her fans on an extraordinary journey across her ten musical “eras” through her setlist of 44 songs.
Similar to many of her other tours, the singer announced that she’d release a recorded version of the concert. In the past, Swift published her concert film on common streaming platforms. However, with the Eras Tour, she made the unique decision to bring the film to theaters, partnering with AMC Theatres.
Leading up to the film’s global release scheduled for Oct. 13, the AMC app crashed due to high volume. Fans were met with a message claiming that “online reservations were temporarily unavailable,” according to Collider.
The movie grabbed fans’ attention internationally, as well, and its impact quickly spread overseas. The film broke the record for the highest pre-sale ticket sales in Mexico, Australia, and the UK.
“Taylor Swift: The Eras Tour” captivates the audience with the intricate choreography, sets, and outfits. Fans can sing, dance, and experience the magic of the concert within the comfort of a theater (and for less than $20).
“Taylor was extremely successful in creating the concert environment in theaters,” said junior Sosi Hoerning, who saw the concert both live and in theaters. “So many of us got up to dance and sang our lungs out, and there was even more room to dance than at the concert.”
Many fans gathered at the front of theaters, dancing and cheering together. Swift encouraged fans to trade friendship bracelets and jam along, and theaters changed their policies to accommodate for the concert-like atmosphere.
“[The movie] almost felt like a private concert,” junior Akshay Dhawan said. He described how the visual and sound quality “made it feel like you’re right in front of [Taylor Swift].”
The Eras Tour movie became an immediate success, having had the biggest opening weekend for a concert movie and becoming the highest-selling concert movie, per ScreenRant – surpassing Justin Bieber’s “Never Say Never” concert film.
The movie also, according to Forbes, stole the title for AMC’s greatest single-day ticket sales from “Spider-Man: No Way Home,” earning an astonishing $26 million.
“This movie is seriously one of the greatest of all time. It really brings out all of your emotions as you move through each era,” Akshay said.