With Eras Tour movie, Taylor Swift continues to share art on her own terms

But it’s no surprise that her concert reel would be ringing success. Taylor’s commercial success, her marketing prowess, the long-lasting connections she forges with her fans, and most importantly, her fight for artists’ rights have already redefined the music industry, but with her first big screen release, the pop star may now be bringing about a change in the business of cinemas.

 

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While Swift is not the first musician to bring concert footage to theaters, she is certainly the only one who signed an unconventional deal with AMC theaters in the United States. According to a news report at Puck, Taylor’s management bypassed movie studios and is set to release the film directly in theaters with AMC Theatres acting as distributor – in what is an agreement that came about only after discussions with traditional distributors, including Universal Pictures, fell through.

“The only exhibitors who knew about the deal were the film’s partners, AMC and Cinemark; other theaters are now playing catchup. AMC, the nation’s largest circuit, also chose not to tip off its studio partners and that’s causing major anger,” IndieWire reported in August. And this is not it. The Eras Tour concert film’s announcement is significant in more ways than one. It was announced just as months-long SAG AFTRA strikes paralyzed film studios in the West, leaving theaters marking time before ‘blockbusters’ bring in the footfall.

 

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Swift, an artist who’s managed to put fans at the forefront on every corner of her career, brings with her their ever-growing numbers in every room she enters.

The SAG-AFTRA too, gave explicit approval to Taylor for her film. The union’s National Executive Director Duncan Crabtree-Ireland earlier said that the artist came “directly to SAG leadership to determine if its release will follow union rules, and that the film is covered and approved through an interim agreement. “She came to us and said she wanted to do this, but only if she could do it the right way under a union contract. And so she fulfilled all the same criteria as anybody else and has an interim agreement for that production,” Carbtree-Ireland said.

The impact of Taylor’s deal is already evident. Before news about her film’s surging advance ticket sales broke, Beyonce, who was on her culture-defining Renaissance tour parallelly with Swift, may have struck a similar deal directly with theaters, says NYT. As IndieWire noted: All Swifties aside, this (Taylor’s deal) represents exhibitors sending a clear message to studios in the middle of the SAG and WGA strikes: Theaters can find programming without their help.

Now, with the release of Eras Tour movie next week, Swift continues to ride the waves of a sea of her own, this time transgressing not just musical genres, but art formats. And she has never shied away from admitting that “she has a marvelous time, ruining everything.”