It’s Taylor Swift’s world and we’re just living in it. The Taylor Swift: Eras Tour easily became the biggest concert film on the domestic front in one weekend and it also scored the second-best opening for a film debuting in October.
Taylor Swift: Eras Tour grossed $92.8 million over the weekend with 41 percent of that opening gross coming from AMC Theaters, which had a special deal to release the project without the help of any of the major studios. The theatrical concert experience also delivered a record for AMC in the month of October becoming its biggest opening for the month ever. As far as pure film releases go, the opening is only second for the month behind Joker, which opened to $96.2 million.
Globally the movie opened to $123 million which is just a stellar figure for a project that had an estimated $10-20 million budget. Also, by bypassing the studio system, a ton of money wasn’t spent on marketing. Most of the promotion came organically through Swift herself and her very loyal fanbase. The importance of how this film was released can’t be underestimated, especially in the age of greedy studio execs who want to have a monopoly on these kinds of things. Everyone isn’t Taylor Swift and this isn’t a one size fits all situation but I think more might try to do what Taylor did.
Now here’s the interesting thing: The Eras Tour concert film goes dark during the week. No weekday grosses will be added since there are no showings until the weekend so while the film will see a drop in its second week, its lifetime grosses by the end of its three-week run will be based purely on weekend play. The fact that Martin Scorsese’s Killers of the Flower Moon opens this weekend and most box office analysts think he’ll have to settle for second place behind Swift, says a lot about her power and the film’s release strategy.
Dropping to second is The Exorcist: Believer with a gross of $11 million, down a standard for horror 58.6 percent. Getting out of the way of the Eras Tour was smart (the film was originally going to open on Oct. 13) but it looks like the film still got hit a bit by the Swifties since some AMC Theaters definitely gave up some of its screens to the concert film. The movie added 26 overseas markets and managed to gross $15.9 million in international grosses which brought its global tally to $85 million (currently sitting at $90 million as of this writing). The good news is that the film has already surpassed its $30 million budget (current domestic tally is $47.8 million) but it’s still up in the air if the $400 million rights purchase was worth it for Universal Pictures in the end.
In third place, we have PAW Patrol: The Mighty Movie with a gross of $6.8 million. That’s a drop of 39.2 percent which brings its domestic take to $49.7 million. This film is likely selling merchandise like hotcakes so that adds to its financial fortune and its global take isn’t hurting either with a worldwide total of $127.6 million to date.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=t3PzUo4P21c
CR: Lionsgate
Fourth place gives us Saw X with a gross of $5.6 million, down a slim 27.5 percent from the previous weekend. It looks like the Saw sequel is benefitting from some spooky season watches which kept this weekend’s drop lower than the week before. It’s also telling that Saw X had a lower opening than The Exorcist: Believer and now it’s within about $3 million from its full domestic take. Not sure who will win the domestic battle but it will be VERY close. To date, Saw X has grossed $41.4 million domestically and $73 million worldwide.
Rounding out the top five is The Creator with a gross of $4.3 million. That’s a drop of 30 percent which is a much better hold than the previous weekend. This might be the theatrical life the studio was hoping for but it’s destined to become a sci-fi cult hit when it hits home viewing. To date, The Creator has grossed $32.4 million domestically and $80.8 million worldwide, matching its $80 million budget.
What are your thoughts on the weekend box office? Check back next week when Five Nights At Freddy’s is hoping that its rabid fanbase will turn it into a surprise box office hit.

Hello! My name is Gaius Bolling: movie, TV, and pop culture junkie! The industry has been in my veins since I was a kid and I have carried that on through adulthood. I attended Los Angeles Film Academy and participated in their screenwriting and editing program. From there, I have learned to hone my skills in the world of entertainment journalism. Some of my favorite genres include horror, action, and drama and I hope to share my love of all of this with you.