UK cinemas hope to cash in as Taylor Swift’s Eras Tour hits the screens
Boosting the economies of entire countries with their world tours was not enough for Taylor Swift and Beyonce. Now they are giving British cinemas a slice of their success.
After grossing a combined $2.8bn (£2.4bn) for their respective Eras and Renaissance shows, both stage icons have recently announced they are taking their productions to movie screens across the world.
Swift announced last week that The Eras Tour concert film will arrive in UK cinemas on October 13th, while Beyonce said on Monday her Renaissance World Tour concert movie will air in December in the US, with a UK date to follow.
Cinema operators in the UK are “licking their lips” at the news of these releases, said Michael Field, European equity strategist at Morningstar.
They “are desperately searching for the next big thing to drive revenue growth,” after the success of Barbie and Oppenheimer movies this summer, he said.
Barbenheimer, as the hit films were collectively dubbed, was the flavour of the month in August, pushing UK box office revenues over £100m, up two thirds on 2022.
Feild said: “For many fans out there, who were left disappointed not to get tickets, watching it on a big screen could be the next best thing. What’s not clear, of course, is whether the success of these concerts will transfer onto the big screen in a meaningful way,”
But cinemas are confident this is what the British public want.
“After a wonderful summer that saw Barbenheimer bring magic back to the box office, we’re very excited for cinema-goers to be included in the cultural phenomenon of The Eras Tour,” said Stuart Crane, vice president of film at Cineworld, which emerged back from the brink of administration in early August.
Fellow cinema chain Vue anticipates Swift will smash all records to date.
Vue released tickets for Swift’s film last week and, since then, sales for Swift’s film have already hit new highs for UK pre-sale ticket figures of a music concert screening.
Odeon said they are “expecting similarly high demand” for Swift’s cinematic experience.
In North America, where the tour has already hit the screens, Odeon generated $26m in ticket sales on the first day alone. It also broke the record for a single title on one day at AMC, owner of Odeon, previously held by Spider Man: No Way Home in 2021.
And with fans battling to get coveted tickets to the live music shows, the films “will be very helpful at mopping up demand for the tours that went unsatisfied,” Alice Enders, head of research at Enders Analysis, said.