It’s not out of the ordinary that Taylor Swift has created widespread pandemonium after announcing that her Eras Tour would be hitting the big screen as a concert movie, because that’s generally the reaction that follows her whenever she does anything.
However, Hollywood has started quaking in fear at the mere prospect of going head-to-head with the singer and occasional actress, with her blockbuster tour poised to succeed where her previous credits in such classics as The Giver, Amsterdam, and Cats have failed by actually making money at the box office.
The Eras Tour has blown the pre-sales for any feature in history not named Avengers: Endgame out of the water, and it’s not out of the question to assume it’ll become the first October release to ever crack $100 million through its opening weekend, because everybody knows how dedicated those Swifties are to the cause.
And yet, the ripple effect has claimed another two victims after Jason Blum wasted no time in admitting defeat and debuting The Exorcist: Believer a week early to avoid being decimated. Rom-com fans will be particularly devastated, with Meg Ryan’s long-awaited return to the genre in What Happens Later fleeing to Nov. 3, while Hilary Swank’s Ordinary Angles has abandoned the battlefield altogether after being pulled from the calendar entirely and rebranded as TBD.
The lowest end of projections have Swift’s concert film debuting to at least $70 million, so it’s probably for the best that everybody else got scared and decided it wasn’t even worth trying to compete.