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Jon M. Chu understood the pressure that he’d be facing when he took on directing Universal’s Wicked, an adaptation of one of the most successful stage musicals of all time. A Wicked fan himself — he’s seen the show 12 times, seven before being hired to helm the film — he knew the stakes were high for casting Elphaba and Galinda and bringing the vibrant world of Oz to the big screen. “If there’s anything I’ve learned through the business, it’s how to deal with pressure. For Wicked specifically, that is a whole other thing,” Chu says, adding that the show’s roof-raising anthem was a particular challenge. “ ‘Defying Gravity’ is one of the most complicated things I’ve ever shot in my entire life. I felt more pressure with ‘Defying Gravity’ than the whole movie itself.”

Wicked reunites Chu with Michelle Yeoh, who starred in his...

Jaden Smith had a successful career as a child artist. He ventured into acting, rapping, skateboarding, and even business ventures during this time. After his success in Jackie Chan’s The Karate Kid film, he appeared in several music videos. In the music video of Pumped Up Kicks (Like Me), it wasn’t just his rapping skills on display but also his skateboarding skills.

Jaden Smith in a still from The Karate Kid | Credits: Columbia Pictures

However, Smith is not particularly happy as he regretted his rap a couple of years later. He shared that it didn’t come out the way he wanted it to be. Interestingly, by this time in his career, Smith had already made his high-profile collaboration alongside Justin Bieber.

Jaden Smith Regretted His Rap and Dressing In One Music Video Jaden Smith in The Get Down | Credits: Sony Pictures TV

Jaden Smith made his debut...

The Britney Spears story is coming to the big screen. Deadline reports that Universal won the rights to adapt the pop singer’s 2022 #1 New York Times bestseller “The Woman In Me.” And the studio hired a solid choice to direct it: “Wicked” filmmaker Jon M. Chu, who’s no stranger to working in the pop music vernacular. Other films by by the director include “In The Heights,” “Justin Bieber: Never Say Never,” and “Step Up 2: The Streets.”

Read More: ‘Wicked’ Trailer: Cynthia Eviro & Ariana Grande Lead Jon M.

Continue reading ‘The Woman In Me’: Universal Wins Bid To Adapt Britney Spears Book, ‘Wicked’ Director Jon M. Chu To Direct at The Playlist.

Exclusive: Depp v. Heard producer Empress Films has hired in the U.S. and UK following its deal with Universal Television Alternative Studio (Utas).

Former Paramount exec Eben Davidson will lead the company’s newly-opened LA office while Minnow Films development exec Matthew Clifton is joining in the UK.

Davidson’s Paramount tenure spanned more than a decade and former roles include Senior Vice President Acquisitions and Development at Paramount Pictures and Senior Vice President, Development at Paramount Pictures Television where his projects included Arrival, The Disappearance of Madeleine McCann, Justin Bieber: Never Say Never and Katy Perry: Part of Me.

Clifton’s work at Sas: Who Dares Wins producer Minnow has seen him produce the likes of What Harvey Did Next, My Big Gay Wedding and Gary Glitter for ITV.

Empress, which has credits including Netflix’s Depp V Heard and Who Killed Jill Dando?, struck an exclusive...

Exclusive: Dan Cutforth & Jane Lipsitz, the Emmy and IDA Award-winning filmmakers from Alfred Street Industries, have been tapped to direct and produce a limited docuseries on the iconic consumer brand and interactive entertainment producer, Atari.

The series, tentatively titled Game Changers: The Story of Atari, will present Atari’s definitive history and anticipated future. Founded in 1972, Atari is an arcade game pioneer also responsible for video game consoles like the Atari 2600. Currently, the company owns and/or manages a portfolio of more than 200 games and franchises, including world-renowned brands like Asteroids, Centipede, Missile Command, Pong, and RollerCoaster Tycoon.

April 2021 marked the beginning of a new era for Atari, as Wade Rosen was named CEO, beginning to work with his team to reignite the legacy brand, while remaining conscious of its unique place in video game history, media and pop culture. Under his direction, Atari has returned to its roots in premium game development and publishing,...

You win some and you lose some — even if you are Taylor Swift.

Just as the pop superstar singer was arriving on the red carpet at Sunday’s Golden Globes ceremony in Beverly Hills, AMC Theatres announced that her concert film The Eras Tour passed up Michael Jackson’s 2009 posthumous This Is It at the global box office to become the top-grossing concert and documentary film of all time, not adjusted for inflation.

Swift was at the Globes in support of her Eras Tour, which was among the movies nominated for the first-ever award for best cinematic and box office achievement. The rules of the category require that a film can only be eligible if has earned at least $150 million at the worldwide box office, including $100 million or more in North America. Greta Gerwig’s Barbie — likewise a female-fueled film — was the inaugural winner.

According to AMC, The Eras Tour...

Taylor Swift is starting off 2024 with yet another historic milestone under her belt.

Following the release of “Taylor Swift: The Eras Tour” to United States theaters on October 13, Swift’s movie is officially the highest-grossing film in box office history among concert and documentary films with more than $261.6 million earned globally. The feat comes a week after “The Eras Tour” opened in China, with a tally of $8.7 million following its debut on December 31.

Among concert films, “The Eras Tour” becomes the highest-grossing ever, unseating previous record holder “Michael Jackson’s This Is It,” which opened in 2009 and grossed $261.2 million at the global box office.

Of course, much of the total gross can be attributed to its record-breaking opening weekend. Upon release in October, “The Eras Tour” made $92.8 million in North America and $30.7 million internationally for a cumulative total of $123.5 million, making it the biggest start of all time for a concert film.

Every Thursday, we here at Joblo put out our weekly predictions for the upcoming weekend box office. When we do that, we do the research in seeing where tracking has the new release movies hitting, what older films can these newer films be compared to give us a better understanding of how they may perform and what type of potential drop off films will have week to week based off of critical and audience reactions. And yet, sometimes with all of that research and hard work, we can still get things wrong! It is for that very reason that in our Thursday predictions this week, I saw Beyoncé having a far better second week hold than she appears to be having!

First place, as predicted, is the latest from legendary Academy Award Winning animator Hayao Miyazaki as The Boy and the Heron will launch with a little under $11 million. While...

Taylor Swift: ‘The Eras Tour concert film has become the highest-grossing concert film of all time, earning an impressive $180 million domestically since its debut on Thursday, October 12.

Among the list of the top-grossing concert films at the domestic box office are the recently rereleased Renaissance: A Film by Beyoncé, storming in with a &21 million opening weekend gross, Talking Heads concert film Stop Making Sense, Justin Bieber: Never Say Never, Madonna: Truth or Dare; U2: 3D and BTS, with three of the latter’s films making it onto the Top 20 chart.

Eras Tour had its premiere on October 11 in Los Angeles, where 13 theaters at the AMC venue at The Grove were dedicated to hosting the premiere of the concert film. It surpassed $100 million in ticket presales and became the second highest-grossing film of all time in the month of October. Globally, it’s first-week global gross was $123.5 million.

The...

Renaissance: A Film By Beyoncé is a hit!

Beyoncé‘s concert film, which was written, directed and produced by Beyoncé, topped the domestic box office with $21 million in its opening weekend, slightly ahead of expectations, via Variety on Sunday (December 3).

Keep reading to find out more…

It’s one of the best debuts for a concert film, following Taylor Swift’s The Eras Tour ($92.9 million), 2008’s Hannah Montana & Miley Cyrus: Best of Both Worlds Concert ($31.1 million), 2011’s Justin Bieber: Never Say Never and 2009’s Michael Jackson: This Is It ($23.2 million).

It’s the first time in two decades a film has opened to more than $20 million on the weekend following Thanksgiving, which is a notoriously slow time.

The movie brought in an additional $6.4 million in 94 territories overseas, bringing its global haul so far to $27.4 million.

With her movie being distributed at AMC Theatres rather than a traditional studio, Beyoncé gets...

Queen Bey is the new box office queen. “Renaissance,” a concert film written, directed and produced by Beyoncé, topped the domestic box office with $21 million in its opening weekend, slightly ahead of expectations.

These ticket sales rank as one of the best debuts for a concert film, joining the company of Taylor Swift’s “The Eras Tour” (far and away the biggest with $92.9 million), 2008’s “Hannah Montana & Miley Cyrus: Best of Both Worlds Concert” ($31.1 million), 2011’s “Justin Bieber: Never Say Never” and 2009’s “Michael Jackson: This Is It” ($23.2 million).

“Renaissance” provided a tidy box office bounty in what would have otherwise been a bleak kickoff to December. According to its distributor AMC Theatres, it’s the first time in two decades a film has opened to more than $20 million on the weekend following Thanksgiving, which is a notoriously slow time at the movies.

“This is an excellent domestic opening for a concert film,...

Sunday Am: AMC’s second concert movie, Renaissance: A Film by Beyoncé, though clearly frontloaded in its previews/Friday with a Saturday tumble of -48% ($6M), remains solid enough to hit a $22M opening, per industry sources. AMC is calling the weekend at $21M. For a movie opening during the listless first weekend of December, that’s fantastic, not far behind Tom Cruise’s 2003 The Last Samurai, which still holds the weekend’s record of $24.2M. Box office org EntTelligence reports 900,000 attendees for Beyoncé this weekend. The 32x Grammy winner catapulted what is typically a truly off weekend at the box office to $95M+, the best the first weekend of December has seen since 2018.

Sources slapped their foreheads over AMC’s move, which was mutual with Beyoncé, to release the movie over what is a terrible box office weekend. However, here it is, and the movie fared quite well, slightly ahead of its $20M expectations.

Beyoncé’s new concert film is delivering the goods at the box office, where it’s headed for the biggest early December opening in two decades.

Renaissance: A Film by Beyoncé — which Beyoncé wrote, directed and produced — could now earn $21 million to $24 million in its debut after it was graced with glowing reviews and a coveted A+ CinemaScore. The film earned $11.5 million on Friday, including $5 million in Thursday previews

Distributor AMC Theatres — also home of blockbuster Taylor Swift: The Eras Tour — is remaining more conservative in suggesting a $20 million opening.

More than 70 percent of Friday’s audience was female, while 50 percent of the audience were Black moviegoers, in a win for diverse programming.

The weekend after Thanksgiving is notoriously sluggish, and Renaissance is a welcome gift for exhibitors. To date, the biggest opening for the first weekend of December belongs to Tom Cruise’s The Last Samurai ($24.3 million), not adjusted for inflation.

Numbers have begun rolling in for this first weekend of December and to the surprise of no one, Renaissance: A Film by Beyoncé is seeing a first place finish in the $20-$25 million range. If it comes in on the higher end, it would become the highest grossing debut for the first weekend of December, beating out the $24.2 million made by 2003’s The Last Samurai starring Tom Cruise (naturally). While this is a solid start for the concert film, it is far from the $92.8 million that Taylor Swift: The Eras Tour launched with just a month and a half ago and more in line with other concert films such as Justin Bieber: Never Say Never ($29.5 million debut), Hannah Montana and Miley Cyrus: Best of Both Worlds ($31.1 million debut) and Michael Jackson’s This Is It ($23.2 million debut) I am but a humble box office reporter, so I can not answer...

Queen Bey has arrived on the box office stage.

Renaissance: A Film by Beyoncé — which Beyoncé wrote, directed and produced — started off its run on the big screen Thursday night with a better-than-expected $5 million in North American previews.

The concert movie is tracking for a debut in the $20 million range, which would mark the biggest opening for the first weekend of December. It should also top this weekend’s chart. And with a perfect 100 percent critics’ score on Rotten Tomatoes and a near-perfect 99 percent audience score, Renaissance come in ahead of expectations.

The weekend after Thanksgiving is notoriously sluggish, and Renaissance is a welcome gift for exhibitors. It should also top this weekend’s chart.

Taylor Swift with her blockbuster Eras Tour movie, Beyoncé and her team decided to bypass Hollywood studios and pact and pact with AMC Theatres distribute Renaissance, which chronicles her recent world tour while also providing behind-the-scenes footage of the superstar.

Queen Bey is about to take on the box office.

“Renaissance,” a concert film written, directed and produced by Beyoncé, is expected to bring in $17 million to $20 million in its opening weekend. The film will play in approximately 2,539 domestic locations, as well as 94 international territories, including Mexico, the U.K., South Africa, Kenya, Australia and Germany. Globally, the film is targeting $30 million to $40 million in its first weekend.

Like Taylor Swift’s “The Eras Tour,” which ignited the box office in October with $92 million domestically and has generated $250 million worldwide to date, “Renaissance” is unique because it’s being distributed by the exhibitor AMC Theatres rather than a traditional studio.

Based on early estimates and pre-sales, “Renaissance” will be more comparable to concert docs like Michael Jackson’s “This Is It,” which debuted to $23 million in 2009, and “Justin Bieber: Never Say Never,” which opened to $29.5 million in 2011, not adjusted for inflation.

Refresh for more….AMC’s second concert movie theatrical release, Renaissance: A Film by Beyonce, hoping to liven up what is typically a dull frame at the box office –the post Thanksgiving/early December downer corridor– with what’s look like a $30M, maybe $40M global opening.

The second movie ever to be distributed wide by an exhibitor arrives moments after their first title Taylor Swift: The Eras Tour, which was a very bright spot at the fall box office with $250M WW, winds down on screens, and winds up in homes on Dec. 13 for digital purchase.

Sources have said for quite some time that despite the mammoth success of the Renaissance concert with ticket sales close to $600M per Live Nation back in August, which is the eighth highest-grossing concert tours of all time and the second highest-grossing concert tours by a women; the singer’s appeal is vastly different from Swift’s.

Checkmate, she couldn’t lose. Taylor Swift’s “The Eras Tour” has crossed a notable box office milestone. The concert film has grossed more than $250 million globally, including $178.2 million domestically and $71.8 million internationally after seven weeks of release.

It stands as the 19th highest-grossing release of the year worldwide, recently surpassing “Sound of Freedom” ($248 million) and “Dungeons & Dragons: Honor Among Thieves” ($208 million). In North America, “The Eras Tour” is the 11th-biggest release of 2023, now ahead of “Mission: Impossible – Dead Reckoning Part One” ($172 million) and “Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny” ($174 million).

In its opening weekend, “The Eras Tour” became the highest-grossing concert film in domestic box office history, overtaking 2011’s “Justin Bieber: Never Say Never” ($73 million). It’s still contending with the genre’s global record holder, 2009’s “Michael Jackson: This Is It” ($261 million).

“The Eras Tour” has been a unique theatrical experiment for several reasons. It...

“Five Nights at Freddy’s” collapsed at the box office but still managed to emerge on top. Universal and Blumhouse’s fall sleeper hit has collected $19.4 million in its sophomore outing, resulting in a massive 76% decline from its debut.

Universal and Blumhouse’s spooky video game adaptation, which takes place in a haunted Chuck E. Cheese-esque establishment, has generated a towering $113 million to date. Despite the dramatic drop, “Five Nights at Freddy’s” earned far more than anyone expected with its $80 million opening weekend. So the second-weekend ticket sales are still decent for the $20 million-budgeted film, which landed simultaneously on the streaming service Peacock.

Though Peacock has far fewer subscribers than rivals, like Disney and Netflix, box office analysts suggest the day-and-date digital release is behind the mammoth decline in ticket sales. Even if that’s the case, “Five Nights at Freddy’s” is a massive commercial winner. After 10 days of release, it...

“Taylor Swift: The Eras Tour” made a surprise appearance on the theatrical release calendar this October and has already become the second-highest grossing concert documentary ever, drawing in fans who wanted to re-experience her Eras Tour in movie form and those who weren’t able to catch this summer’s concert. But while “The Eras Tour” movie still isn’t the top music doc (yet), it’s something of an outlier when it comes to just how much it’s made at the box office — $178 million and counting.

Several other big-name musicians and bands have released documentaries about their tours or certain albums, but the only ones to come close to the success of “The Eras Tour” include Michael Jackson and Justin Bieber, so far. Beyoncé’s “Renaissance” tour documentary, slated for a Dec. 1 release, could further shake up the stats and the box office.

Below we’ve rounded up...

Martin Scorsese’s Killers Of The Flower Moon opened on $44m worldwide.

Worldwide box office October 20-22 Rank Film (distributor) 3-day (world) Cume (world) 3-day (int’l) 3-day (int’l) Territories 1. Killers Of The Flower Moon (Paramount)

$44m $44m $21m $21m 64 2. Taylor Swift: The Eras Tour (various) $41.5m $164.8m $10.5m $35m 36 3. Leo: Bloody Sweet (various) $31.2m $48.5m $29.1m $43.9m 29 4. Paw Patrol: The Mighty Movie (Paramount) $16.2m $148.4m $11.7m $92.3m 67 5. Trolls Band Together (Universal) $14.3m $16.0m $14.3m $16.0m 26 6. The Exorcist: Believer (Universal) $13.8m $107.6m $8.2m $53.4m 81 7. Only The River Flows (various) $12.5m $12.5m $12.5m $12.5m 1 8. Under The Light (various) $6.9m $173.1m...

Hollywood loves to repeat success, and now more than ever it needs to. If there’s a promising way to draw people into movie theaters that the industry doesn’t capitalize on, it will only be colluding in the decay of its own future. So when I came out of “Taylor Swift: The Eras Tour,” having experienced, for the first time in a while, what it was like a share a concert film with an ecstatic audience, one of my first thoughts was, “How could they do this again?”

You might say that’s a silly question, since it has one obvious answer: They can’t. There is only one Taylor Swift, the most epic global pop superstar since the Michael Jackson of the “Thriller” era. And there is only one Taylor Swift fan base. Until “The Eras Tour,” no concert movie in history has made this kind of money.

It’s Scorsese vs. Swift at the box office.

Martin Scorsese’s star-studded crime epic “Killers of the Flower Moon,” this weekend’s only new nationwide release, is targeting $20 million to $30 million from its debut in 3,621 North American theaters. But it’ll be no match for last weekend’s champion, Taylor Swift’s “The Eras Tour,” which looks to lead again with $30 million to $40 million in its sophomore outing.

Paramount Pictures is distributing the $200 million-budgeted “Killers of the Flower Moon,” which was backed by Apple and will eventually land on its streaming service at a later date. Box office experts are split on whether its projected mid-$20 million debut would be disappointing for such an expensive film or impressive for an adult-skewing drama that runs at nearly three and a half hours. It’s unclear what a streaming giant like Apple (which pays Paramount a distribution fee) constitutes as a success in the theatrical space.

In another remarkable turn in a year full of unlikely box office heroes, pop star Taylor Swift is now the heroine of the fall moviegoing season. As expected, her concert film "Taylor Swift: The Eras Tour" became a bonafide blockbuster when it hit theaters over the weekend. It scored one of the biggest domestic openings of 2023 thus far and, in the process, shattered a longstanding box office record. Move over Justin Beiber because the Swifties have booted you off the top of the mountain.

"The Eras Tour" took in a wildly impressive $97 million over the weekend in North America alone, per estimates from The Numbers. That's to say nothing of the international numbers. In a single weekend, Swift has taken the crown and now owns the highest-grossing concert film ever domestically, passing "Justin Bieber: Never Say Never" ($73 million domestic/$99 million worldwide). That film was released in 2011 at the height of Bieber's initial fame wave,...

Taylor Swift’s “The Eras Tour” concert film officially opened to $92.8 million in North America and $30.7 million internationally, bringing its first weekend tally to a massive $123.5 million globally.

These ticket sales are slightly below Sunday’s estimates of $95 million to $97 million domestically and $126 million to $130 million worldwide, but wildly impressive nonetheless. At the domestic box office, it’s the second-biggest October debut of all time, trailing only 2019’s “Joker” with $96 million.

With minimal promotion and unconventional distribution strategies, “The Eras Tour” easily landed the best start of all time for a concert film, as well as the sixth-biggest opening weekend of the year. It’s a remarkable start for a movie that wasn’t even added to the calendar until six weeks ago.

“This October, without Taylor Swift, would have been awful,” says Jeff Bock, an analyst with Exhibitor Relations. “This is a huge bright spot.”

The movie took an...

Netflix’s “American Symphony,” which follows Grammy and Oscar winner Jon Batiste as he prepares for his performance at Carnegie Hall, leads the 2023 Critics Choice Documentary Award nominations with six, including best documentary feature and directing for Matthew Heineman. PBS’ “20 Days in Mariupol,” Magnolia Pictures’ “Kokomo City” and Apple Original Films’ “Still: A Michael J. Fox Movie” are tied for second with five nominations apiece. Each were also were nominated in the top category.

Other nominees for documentary feature include Roadside Attraction’s “Beyond Utopia,” MTV Documentary Films’ “The Eternal Memory,” Amazon’s “Judy Blume Forever,” National Geographic’s “The Mission” and Netflix’s “The Deepest Breath” and “Stamped from the Beginning.”

Read: Variety’s Awards Circuit for the latest Oscars predictions in all categories.

Now in its eighth year, the Critics Choice Documentary Awards have previously given the top prize to Oscar winners “O.J.: Made in America” (2016) and...

By any standards — other than the over-the-top, pre-release hype — “Taylor Swift The Eras Tour” (Variance/AMC) provided a spectacular initial weekend with an estimated $96 million gross. Foreign estimates are $31 million-$33 million, which would reflect the anticipated 75/25 percent split.

To put it in perspective, and how badly theaters needed this success: “Eras” grossed more than the total of any film released since August 2, over two months ago. “Barbie” and “Oppenheimer”were brilliant, but the follow-up hasn’t been encouraging.

AMC Theatres, overseeing domestic distribution of the film (Variance handles actual bookings), estimates say that the weekend will gross $95 million – $97 million. It’s unusual for a distributor to provide a range rather than specific number, but this is a case with few precedents.

It seems churlish to describe “Eras” ($96 million on a $15 million production budget!) as any kind of shortfall, but the reason pundits seemed to accept $100 million-plus as a given is...

It’s official: Taylor Swift’s “The Eras Tour” concert film is the highest-grossing concert film in domestic box office history — and it only took her four days to achieve the feat.

According to Variety, the film earned between $95 and $97 million in its opening weekend, surpassing the entire $73 million domestic box office total of the previous record holder, 2011’s Justin Bieber: Never Say Never.

The film received a surprise early opening on Thursday, October 12th, and went to a wider release on Friday, October 13th. Across 3,850 North American theaters, with a total of 4,150 international venues, tickets went for $19.89 for adults and $13.13 for children and seniors. Through pre-sales alone, the movie broke the single-day sales record at AMC.

Michael Jackson’s posthumous 2009 concert film, This Is It, currently holds the world-wide record for the top-grossing concert film with a global box office total of $380 million.

Taylor Swift: The Eras Tour was...

It’s official: Taylor Swift’s “The Eras Tour” concert film is the highest-grossing concert film in domestic box office history — and it only took her four days to achieve the feat.

According to Variety, the film earned between $95 and $97 million in its opening weekend, surpassing the entire $73 million domestic box office total of the previous record holder, 2011’s Justin Bieber: Never Say Never.

The film received a surprise early opening on Thursday, October 12th, and went to a wider release on Friday, October 13th. Across 3,850 North American theaters, with a total of 4,150 international venues, tickets went for $19.89 for adults and $13.13 for children and seniors. Through pre-sales alone, the movie broke the single-day sales record at AMC.

Michael Jackson’s posthumous 2009 concert film, This Is It, currently holds the world-wide record for the top-grossing concert film with a global box office total of $380 million.

Taylor Swift: The Eras Tour was...

The Taylor Swift: The Eras Tour numbers are in!

The movie is expected to bring in a haul of about $95-$97 million at the domestic box office, via TheWrap.

Prior to the release, AMC projected a $100 million domestic opening for the concert film, which would have beat out the $96.2 million October record set in 2019 by Joker.

Keep reading to find out more…

While it may not have opened to the projected figure, the movie cost $20 million to make, so it’s already a big success!

The Eras Tour also became the highest-grossing concert film in domestic box office history, surpassing the entire $73 million run of Justin Bieber: Never Say Never in 2011.

As a result of the movie, there’s at least one unexpected outcome: fans are swooning over one of Taylor Swift‘s backup dancers! Find out which one.

Swifties might notice that there are several differences between the film and the actual show.

Long live the new box office queen.

After selling out stadiums across the country, Taylor Swift is filling movie theaters with “The Eras Tour” concert film, which ignited to estimates of $95 million to $97 million over the weekend. Studios typically report a firmer number at this point, but “without clear comparisons, Sunday box office projections remain a range,” the film’s official distributor AMC Theatres said in a note to press. Rivals have suggested the final tally could be closer to $94 million.

It’s still a remarkable start for a concert film that was announced just six weeks ago and landed on the big screen with minimal promotion outside of Swift posting on social media to her 350 million followers.

At the international box office, “Eras Tour” collected $31 million to $33 million, putting its initial global tally between $126 million to $130 million.

During its first weekend in theaters, “The Eras Tour” became the highest-grossing...

AMC/Variance’s “Taylor Swift: The Eras Tour” is falling short of pre-release hopes for an October opening weekend record but is still rejuvenating the box office with what AMC is estimating as a Friday-Sunday frame between $95 million and $97 million domestic.

Prior to release, AMC projected a $100 million domestic opening for the concert film, which would have topped the $96.2 million October record set in 2019 by “Joker.” The weekend grosses released on Sunday morning are always educated guesses based on Friday and Saturday earnings, and they are usually pretty on point when the final figures are released on Monday.

Even if the film falls short of the October record, neither AMC nor other theater chains will bemoan these slightly lower-than-expected numbers. They are still pushing overall weekend grosses to the highest levels seen since “Barbie” topped the charts two months ago.

Moreover, in just three days, Taylor Swift’s concert epic...

Talk about champagne problems.

Taylor Swift: The Eras Tour may have fallen just short of an expected $100 million debut at the domestic box office, but it still did enchanting business. The female-fueled concert film opened to an estimated $95 million to $97 million from 3,850 theaters, thanks to the superstar’s powerful fandom. AMC Theatres, which is distributing the movie, is breaking from the norm and not giving a weekend estimate that is usually provided by Hollywood studios on Sunday morning. Instead, it will wait until Monday morning to declare an official gross.

Swift’s movie has much to celebrate in already becoming the top-grossing concert film of all time in North America in its first weekend, as well as possibly beating Joker ($96.2 million) to serve up the biggest October opening of all time, not adjusted for inflation.

In an unprecedented move, Swift’s team bypassed Hollywood studios and chose AMC Theatres, the world’s biggest cinema circuit,...

Sunday Am: The AMC distributed Taylor Swift: Eras Tour concert movie, per AMC, is eyeing an opening of $95M-$97M this Am, which means for them, the dust hasn’t settled yet. EntTelligence says 4.8M Swifties or people went to see Eras Tour this weekend, having paid an average of $20.75 for a ticket (across all formats). Anything above Joker‘s $96.2M opening is a record opening for the month of October.

But here’s the thing: rival distributors, which have access to all box office data, only see the pic as the second-best opener of October at around $94.3M. AMC, in their first wide release rodeo here, should be careful not to get over their skis, as team Swift will want to know where every nickel is coming from. Saturday is still estimated at $32.3M, which is a hair below Joker’s Saturday of $32.4M. A Sunday that’s...

Taylor Swift is a box office mastermind.

Based on early grosses pouring in, the superstar’s new concert movie Taylor Swift: The Eras Tour is headed for a domestic opening of $100 million, per AMC Theatres’ estimates. Hollywood studios are estimating an opening weekend range of $90 million-$110 million, but AMC is sticking to its original number.

The movie grossed a huge $39 million on Friday, on par with such tentpoles as Spider-Man: No Way Home ($39.2 million), and it’s the second-biggest Friday gross for an October movie behind Joker ($39.4 million), not adjusted for inflation.

It has a shot at snagging the biggest October opening of all time in North America if it bests Joker ($96.2 million), according to Comscore. By the weekend’s end, it is assured of already being the top-grossing concert film of all time, not adjusted for inflation.

Eras Tour was graced with a coveted A+ CinemaScore by audiences and...

This weekend sees just one release, but it is a big one. Taylor Swift swoops into theaters with a theatrical production of her Era’s Tour concert that has raked in over two billion dollars worldwide making it the highest grossing tour of all time. When tickets for the tour went on sale, it crashed almost all ticketing sites and became a hot button issue for fans who couldn’t get tickets. Of course in today’s world the price for tickets to concerts of this magnitude can hit upwards of a thousand dollars so Swift and AMC partnered together to record and release a version of the concert to theaters so fans could still get a chance to see the record breaking tour at a reasonable cost.

Of course none of this was known just a month ago as the film was a surprise announcement just about three weeks...

Update: Taylor Swift announced Wednesday evening that at the last minute Thursday night previews would be held at theaters starting at 6 p.m. Additional showtime are now allowed through 1 a.m. Thursday, then starting at 2 p.m. on Friday per exhibitor sources. Those interested should check ticket sale websites, with all expected to be selling by 10 a.m. Eastern Thursday.

Swift made the announcement herself via social media. It is very unusual, to put it mildly, for a move like this to be made last minute. Having the largest exhibitor distributing the film likely made resistance to such a last minute move easier, as does the potential revenue, but it still is burdensome for many theaters. This could significantly increase the initial gross since most Friday night shows were sold out. How top Swifties who fought to get tickets for the supposed initial Friday show will feel remains an open question.

Taylor Swift is bringing her “Eras Tour” to the big screen a day earlier than planned.

The concert film was originally scheduled to open on Friday the 13th (to coincide with her lucky number), but the singer has announced a surprise shift in release to a day earlier, with showtimes beginning Thursday at 6 p.m.

“Look what you genuinely made me do: Due to unprecedented demand we’re opening up early access showings of The Eras Tour Concert Film on Thursday in America and in Canada!! As in… Tomorrow,” Swift wrote on Instagram. “We’re also adding additional showtimes Friday and throughout the weekend. All tickets will be available by 10am tomorrow morning. And it’ll be showing starting Friday in 90 countries all over the world.”

She continued, “I can’t thank you enough for wanting to see this film that so vividly captures my favorite adventure I’ve ever...

This weekend, we’ll be entering new box office territory, as arguably one of the biggest pop stars on the entire planet shares her record-breaking sell-out concert tour to theaters across the globe. Read on for Gold Derby’s box office preview.

“Taylor Swift: The Eras Tour” – which was filmed at Swift’s August SoFi Stadium concerts in L.A. – was given a surprise announcement at the end of that month with tickets going on sale almost immediately, racking up new sales records for AMC, the theater chain handling distribution, along with Variance. The movie will reportedly debut in 4,000 theaters across the country on Friday and dozens of other territories across the world simultaneously.

Over the years, there have been many notable concert films released in theaters in an effort to help save the cinematic experience, most notably between 2008 and 2013, with “Justin Bieber: Never Say Never” being the highest grossing one to date,...

Just two months ago it seemed that “Barbenheimer” would mark the last huge event-release movie theaters would see for the foreseeable future. But thanks to AMC Theaters and Taylor Swift, this weekend is set to be the shot in the arm the box office needed with the release of the pop star’s “Eras” concert film.

With over $100 million already in the bag from worldwide presales, Swift is expected to challenge the October domestic opening weekend record currently held by “Joker” with $96 million.

Currently, independent trackers are conservatively projecting a mere $85 million, while exhibitors who spoke to TheWrap believe the film will become the first October release to exceed $100 million, with the most optimistic predictions topping out at $125 million.

To help stem the instability the ongoing actors strike is wreaking on the box office, AMC reached a deal in August with Swift’s team to distribute the film directly via a partnership with Variance Films,...

The Swifties are getting ready to make box office history.

Taylor Swift: The Eras Tour is headed for a record global opening for a concert film of $150 million to $200 million, including $100 million to $125 million in North America and $50 million to $75 million overseas.

AMC Theatres, which is distributing the concert pic on behalf of the superstar pop singer, is sticking to the more conservative estimate of $150 million globally, including $100 million domestically.

Swift’s film will begin screening 6 p.m. local time on Friday in more than 8,500 cinemas in roughly 100 countries, including in every AMC location in the U.S. Generally, a movie holds previews Thursday night before officially opening on Friday morning. (Eras Tour‘s truncated release makes it more difficult to predict its opening.)

In an unprecedented move, Swift’s team bypassed Hollywood studios and partnered directly with the world’s largest exhibitor — to bring the film to the big screen.

The fall season has been off to a relatively slow start at the box office. September can be a bit of a dead-ish month, but this year saw solid hits such as "The Nun II" and "The Equalizer 3." Even so, theater owners could use a big breakout blockbuster hit. Well, they're about to get just that, and it's Taylor Swift to the rescue. The mega pop star is set to bring her latest arena tour to theaters next weekend with "Taylor Swift: The Eras Tour," which was announced at the end of August scarcely over a month ago. But Swift didn't need any more time to carve a record-breaking path for her much-anticipated concert film.

Despite the fact that the promotional campaign for the film has felt a little muted, it appears that hasn't hurt ticket sales one bit. Swifties are perfectly capable of rising to the occasion on their own.

Exclusive: Sources are telling us that the first-day presales for the top three exhibitors stateside for Renaissance: A Film by Beyoncé is estimated to be around $6M-$7M+.

Movies with similar first day pre-sales figures include Avatar: The Way of Water ($5.5M), Guardians of the Galaxy: Vol. 3 ($6M) and Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania ($6.5M).

Note these figures do not come from AMC. An official number from AMC could conceivably come in higher, if they release one. We understand that on Fandango, Taylor Swift: The Eras Tour tickets outsold Beyonce 7-to-1 on day one. Top three chains stateside are AMC, Regal and Cinemark.

News about the AMC-distributed concert docu movie leaked over the weekend before it was made official by the 32 Grammy winner on social media portal on late Sunday night. Deadline knew before anyone that the theatrical release date was Dec. 1, a post-Thanksgiving frame which is a very...

Swifties of the world unite!

Taylor Swift: The Eras Tour, the concert film of Taylor Swift’s phenomenally successful world tour, is going global. In addition to North America, it was revealed Tuesday that the film will also hit cinemas in more than 100 countries overseas timed to its Oct. 13 domestic launch.

“The tour isn’t the only thing we’re taking worldwide,” Swift wrote on Instagram. “Been so excited to tell you all that The Eras Tour concert film is now officially coming to theaters Worldwide on Oct 13!”

Tickets for international locations outside North America will go on sale for most participating locations beginning Sept. 26.

AMC Theatres, which is releasing Eras Tour in the U.S. via Variance Releasing, is handling the international distribution of the film. AMC and its partners are working to reach agreements with movie theater operators representing more than 7,500 cinemas globally.

Eras Tour is already scheduled...

A summer full of hope for theaters is giving way to a fall filled with uncertainty. Anxious studios, paralyzed by striking actors and writers demanding better labor contracts, are pushing several films like “Dune: Part Two” and “Kraven the Hunter” to 2024, and there’s a good chance that more release delays will come if the strike continues.

How ironic then, that cinemas might get a bailout not from a studio, but from the Antihero.

Last week, Taylor Swift set the film industry on its ear when AMC Entertainment announced that it would directly distribute a concert film recorded during the pop star’s wildly successful Eras Tour with a full theatrical window starting Oct. 13. After just one day, AMC reported a stunning $26 million from presales. Now, exhibition sources told TheWrap, Swift’s concert film is likely to become the first October release to top $100 million on its opening weekend.

Even if it doesn’t,...

Exclusive: Sources tell us that advance tickets sales for the Taylor Swift: The Eras Tour concert movie have reached $65 million-plus. That’s a figure comprising the top three U.S. circuits — AMC, Regal and Cinemark — Canada’s Cineplex and Mexico’s Cinépolis.

That figure, which comes a a month before its October 13 opening, already bests the U.S.-Canada advance ticket sales of mega-superhero movies including Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness ($60M) and The Batman ($42M). Those numbers were clocked just prior to those movies’ respective opening dates. The Eras Tour still trails the pandemic presales record of Spider-Man: No Way Home, which banked $120M before its opening day.

Many distribution sources tell us that they would not be shocked by a $100M opening for The Eras Tour. The question is how front-loaded the movie will be given the tendency of female moviegoers to show up in packs for initial showtimes.

After the gargantuan summer concert of Taylor Swift with her Eras Tour, it was inevitable a film of the event would eventually follow. Swift then announced recently that the concert film would only be just over a month away. The announcement was predicted to garner the same enthusiasm that her tour faced when tickets officially went on sale. The news of Swift’s film almost hit like lightning as the music star made her social media announcement, the AMC theater chain would brace for a stampede of presales, saying “it has shored up its ticket server capacity to handle traffic at more than five times the current record for most tickets sold in an hour.” Then, they set a record in advanced buys.

The Hollywood Reporter is revealing that theater exhibitors are predicting a record opening for the concert film that could rival that of the Barbenheimer phenomenon earlier this summer.

Can Taylor Swift’s newly revealed concert movie continue the momentum of Barbenheimer — and Barbie in particular — and become a cultural rallying cry at the fall box office?

Cinema owners are counting on just that after last week’s surprise announcement that Taylor Swift: The Eras Tour concert film will hit theaters across the U.S. and Canada for several weekends, beginning Oct. 13. Several exhibition sources tell The Hollywood Reporter they believe the film could open to a record $100 million, based on brisk advance ticket sales. Nor are they ruling out the movie ultimately grossing $150 million or more domestically.

That’s welcome news amid the ongoing writers and actors strikes, which are prompting high-profile fall movies to delay their releases. Sony’s Kraven the Hunter, starring Aaron Taylor-Johnson as the Marvel antihero, relocated from Oct. 6 to next August. Warner Bros. and Legendary’s Dune: Part Two was slotted for Nov.

As confirmed by Deadline today, Jon M. Chu, one of cinema's premiere makers of cinematic musicals, will be adapting the Andrew Lloyd Webber/Tim Rice operetta "Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat" for Amazon Studios. In addition to directing, Chu will produce the film alongside Scott Sanders, who worked on Chu's adaptation of Lin-Manuel Miranda's and Quiara Alegría Hudes' stage musical "In the Heights," released in 2021.

"Joseph" is an outsize, rock-forward, expressionistic rendition of the Book of Genesis, telling the story of the Coat of Many Colors. In Genesis, Joseph was given said garment by his father, much to the chagrin of his jealous brothers, who began to plot against him. Joseph was thrown into a pit, with one of his more benevolent brothers planning to rescue him later. He was eventually dragged out and sold into slavery. In the Webber/Rice musical, Joseph eventually gets out of bondage...

Exclusive: Grammy-winning singer Sza and Euphoria breakout Chloe Cherry have signed on to star alongside Eddie Huang (Boogie) in Tuna Melt, an off-beat dramedy that he wrote and will direct for Sb Projects and Ryder Picture Company.

Tuna Melt is likened to an updated Pulp Fiction meets High Fidelity. Huang will lead the darkly comedic feature as a hitman who unexpectedly meets the love of his life soon after he completes a job. This all transpires in the aftermath of a break-up. While Sza will play Huang’s love interest, details as to Cherry’s role are being kept under wraps.

Scooter Braun and James Shin will produce for Sb Projects, along with Aaron Ryder and Andrew Swett for Ryder Picture Company. Huang is also producing, with Scott Manson serving as exec producer.

Huang is a writer, director, actor, chef and television personality who made his feature directorial debut with...