How Taylor Swift is getting the last laugh on Ticketmaster with Eras Tour concert film

Taylor Swift: What can’t she do? She’s a notorious record breaker, a critically acclaimed, multi-award-winning singer-songwriter, an accomplished music video director, a political organizer, and now a savior of cinemas. Move over, Martin Scorsese, because Killers Of The Flower Moon has some serious competition in the Eras Tour concert film, which has surpassed $100 million in ticket presales. Swift laid the groundwork to make the concert film a success—and then just like clockwork, the dominoes cascaded in a line. Call her a “Mastermind.”

First, it was how she handled the studios, a number of whom she met with to consider partnering on the concert film release, per a new Variety report. (The streamers apparently bowed out knowing that Swift was seeking a theatrical release.) Studio executives apparently spent the summer pitching the pop star on their marketing and rollout strategy for the film, only for her to ghost them all and make an unprecedented deal with AMC instead. One studio exec grumbled to Variety that she “got a lot of free advice,” but a Swift source said, “This sounds like sour grapes. Everyone had the opportunity to bid on this, but ultimately Taylor decided to bet on herself.”

Bet on herself she did, sealing a deal with AMC that would give her camp 57% of ticket sales and the opportunity to shop the film to streamers after its theatrical run for another chunk of change. She managed to secure that lucrative presale without much marketing at all beyond social media, Variety notes. And let’s not forget that she basically has the NFL doing her marketing for her—the league reportedly pressed networks into playing the Eras Tour trailer for free.

It’s mastermind behavior alright, and all in service of the Swifties. According to the report, Swift was dead set on a theatrical release that would be a communal event for fans after Ticketmaster made them feel “like they went through several bear attacks” to get tickets, and for those who weren’t able to get tickets to the live show at all. The film is specifically only playing on the weekends, specifically to maximize the chances that fans will get to see it in a full house and share the experience with each other.

So there’s something for Swift, something for the Swifties, and something for cinemas everywhere. The fall box office—which could have flagged after schedules were rearranged during the strikes—will see a healthy boost from the Eras Tour movie, which is likely to become not only the biggest concert film ever but one of the top ten movies of the year. If any other industries need saving, they might consider getting Taylor Swift on the case. She’s a surefire path to success.