Refresh for latest…: Taylor Swift: The Eras Tour may have missed the century mark in regards to a domestic opening, but the 12x Grammy winner was always guaranteed that number worldwide, with AMC reporting this AM that the Sam Wrench-directed concert pic has racked up $126M-$130M. The international box office opening is estimated at $31M-$33M. AMC is reporting a range à la North America; this the first time the circuit has handled a global theatrical-day-and-date release of this magnitude. Note, we never saw this hitting $200M WW; overseas was always going to be light and at this point remains at the lower-end of expectations.
AMC is calling the domestic opening between $95M-$97M today, however, rival studios see it lower at $94.3M. At the latter level, it’s the second best opening for October Stateside. Anything north of Joker‘s $96.2M stateside debut is an October domestic opening record.
The global record for October is a much higher bar with 2019’s Joker posting an opening of $248.4M (unadjusted for inflation and currency swings). Last year, Dwayne Johnson’s Black Adam posted a $143M worldwide opening; the actor’s draw is enormous abroad. Eras Tour‘s global opening also blew away that of Michael Jackson’s This Is It which saw $74.25M, the previous worldwide opening record set by a concert-themed movie back in 2009 (unadjusted).
That said, the big play for Miss Americana here was always domestic; and we had heard that $80M of the $100M global presales came from U.S. tickets. When the news was first announced about Eras Tour blasting off overseas, it was said to play in 8,500 cinemas in roughly 100 countries. That didn’t mean in its first weekend. We promise that you’ll never find another distribution pattern like that.
AMC says Eras Tour played in 94 offshore territories at 4,527 venues.
Among the countries that went this weekend were UK/Ireland, France, Germany, Italy, Philippines, Spain, Japan, Australia/NZ, Thailand, Poland, Netherlands, Sweden, Finland, Norway, Austria, Denmark, Argentina, Chile, Ecuador, Columbia, Peru, Switzerland, Belgium, Portugal, Kenya, South Africa, Greece, Slovakia, Czech, Croatia, Serbia, Estonia, Israel, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Ukraine, Azerbaijan, Georgia, Latvia, Aruba, Angola, Bahamas and Pakistan.
The pic opened in the No. 1 spot in UK/Ireland after unprecedented presales, with Vue Cinemas reporting the same success in Germany, Italy and the Netherlands. Unlike the U.S., tickets didn’t go on sale for Eras Tour abroad until a few days prior to opening which is standard for theatrical releases overseas.
Other No. 1 openings included Mexico, Australia, Germany and the Philippines.
Vue Cinemas boss Tim Richards said today that The Eras Tour is “tracking to achieve the highest ever box office takings for an event cinema release in the UK and Ireland.” He added, “We saw an incredible response from Swifties across the UK and Ireland who dressed up, sang along and danced away with fellow fans, with sell-out sessions despite scheduling an unprecedented number of shows so no one missed out.”
While NY-based distributor Variance handled the booking for Stateside theaters, Trafalgar in the UK handled overseas distribution of the AMC-brokered movie.
Swift’s next suite overseas is on November 3 with Brazil, South Korea, India, Malaysia, Indonesia, Turkey, Hungary, Vietnam, Hong Kong, Romania, Singapore, Bulgaria, Taiwan and Macau. In the case of Brazil, the pic didn’t clear censorship in time for a release this weekend.
The global IMAX take was $13.1M, setting a record as biggest opening weekend for a musical act film (concert or documentary) in the format. International markets earned $2.03M from 236 screens. A further 106 offshore screens will open on October 26 and November 3. IMAX CEO Rich Gelfond said, “The impressive numbers we’re seeing are usually reserved for Hollywood blockbusters, demonstrating how demand for the IMAX experience has expanded beyond our core audience… With this film, Taylor Swift has created an experience that is cinematic in every sense of the word — dazzling, immersive, and undeniably joyous — and in the sound and scope of IMAX it’s the closest thing to being at the concert itself.”
We’ll have more updates for you as they come.
Also new this frame, in staggered rollout, Universal/DreamWorks Animation’s Trolls Band Together started spreading sunshine in five markets. This first wave of openings includes Sweden, Norway, Denmark, Estonia and Lithuania. The start was $1.35M, just off Trolls and The Boss Baby, and above Trolls World Tour.
Sweden was a No. 1 start with $500K, the best for a Trolls title. Norway was also No. 1, with $400K, above Taylor Swift. A high-profile marketing installation in Oslo’s central docks generated strong buzz for the movie. The opening is above Trolls World Tour and in line with The Boss Baby. Denmark opened with $300K, also above Eras Tour, but ranking No.2 for the weekend behind local hit The Promised Land. School holidays will take place in the market Monday to Friday next week, setting up the film for a strong first week. The weekend result is just off Trolls World Tour which had a successful run there during the Pandemic.
Meanwhile, catering to a younger demo, Paramount/Nickelodeon/Spin Master’s Paw Patrol: The Mighty Movie is wagging its tail, passing the $100M global threshold in just 15 days. This weekend added a strong $24.5M in 67 markets including 11 new openings. Now out in 95% of the overseas paw print, the cume is $76.5M at the international box office and $126.4M global. Holdovers were down just 24%.
These dogs are having their day, already surpassing 2021’s Paw Patrol film, which, recall, played and played. The Mighty Movie still has a long way to go and is expected to cross $200M worldwide. It’s already driven a significant increase in engagement on Nickelodeon linear, Paramount+ and consumer products, where the pups are on track to deliver over $1.5B at retail this year. The original film, Paw Patrol: The Movie, for the year to date is the most rewatched original/exclusive film on Paramount+, with an average of 6.8 times rewatched.
In new openings this session, France bow-wowed to No. 1 with $4.5M at 638 sites. School holidays are coming up from October 23 to November 3. The UK debuted at No. 2 with $4.2M from 618 locations; there are staggered school holidays from Monday to November 3. Poland launched with a No. 1 start of $2.4M from 328 cinemas and Spain was also a No. 1 play with $1.9M from 369.
China is the lead market overall at $14.9M (down just 3% from last weekend), followed by Germany at $6.9M (with a -11% hold), Mexico has grossed $5.7M and Australia $4.6M
Markets yet to open are Sweden on October 27 and Japan on December 15.
Universal/Blumhouse/Morgan Creek’s The Exorcist: Believer added 26 offshore markets this weekend, including Brazil and France, for another $15.9M to reach $40M to date internationally and performing above Scream VI and in line with Evil Dead Rise in the same markets. France had a No. 2 start with $1.7M from 332 screens, just off Halloween, above Halloween Ends, M3GAN, Scream and Evil Dead Rise. Brazil took $1.5M including previews in over 1000 locations, the 2nd biggest opening of all time for a Blumhouse title in the market, only behind M3GAN. The launch is above Insidious: The Red Door and Halloween. The UAE started with $500K – above Annabelle, Halloween, Smile, Evil Dead Rise and M3GAN, – at a clear No. 1. The global total is now $85M, of which IMAX is $4M.
Top plays so far are Mexico ($6.8M), UK ($4.2M), Spain ($2.5M), Italy ($2.4M) and Germany ($1.9M).
MISC UPDATED CUMES/NOTABLE
The Creator (DIS): $5.9M intl weekend (50 markets); $46.7M intl cume/$79.1M global
The Equalizer 3 (SNY): $5.7M intl weekend (57 markets); $86.1M intl cume/$176.7M global
The Nun II (WB): $4M intl weekend (74 markets); $173.5M intl cume/$257.2M global
Saw X (LG): $3.5M intl weekend (56 markets); $29.9M intl cume/$71.3M global
Oppenheimer (UNI): $1.7M intl weekend (83 markets); $618.3M intl cume/$942M global
Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Mutant Mayhem (PAR): $430K intl weekend (32 markets); $61.9M intl cume/$124.6M global