Game Changer
The Oppenheimer filmmaker said Swift’s deal with AMC is “going to make an enormous amount of money”
Oppenheimer filmmaker Christopher Nolan believes that Taylor Swift is the future of cinema.
During a recent event on Wednesday between Nolan, Emma Thomas, and Pulitzer Prize-winning writer Kai Bird, the director praised Swift for her decision to distribute The Eras Tour film directly through AMC. “Taylor Swift is about to show the studios, because her concert film is not being distributed by the studios, it’s being distributed by a theater owner, AMC, and it’s going to make an enormous amount of money,” he said . “And this is the thing: This is a format, this is a way of seeing things and sharing stories, or sharing experiences, that’s incredibly valuable. And if they don’t want it, somebody else will. So that’s just the truth of it.”
Swift Eras Tour movie made history before it even hit theaters — advance ticket sales alone were enough to put it among the highest-grossing concert films of all time, surpassing Justin Bieber’s 2011 concert movie Never Say Never, which has an all-time domestic box gross of $73 million, according to box office site The Numbers.
The Eras Tour film had a colossal Thursday-to-Sunday rollout, earning $93 million in North America and $123.5 million globally — breaking the records for a concert film or documentary. The film has received near-universal critical acclaim. Rolling Stone’s Rob Sheffield called the movie “unlike anything else she — or anyone else — has done onscreen.”
Swift sold tickets at $19.89 each (and $13.13 for children), references to her famed album and her lucky number. Her direct deal with AMC challenged the industry status quo by circumventing a movie studio and distributing the film herself. Beyonce, who has a concert film of her own set to release this December, took a similar approach.