Heading into the weekend, it was believed that a superhuman effort was required to prevent Taylor Swift and her Eras Tour concert movie from decimating virtually every box office record the month of October has ever seen, and that was technically proven to be the case.
Expectations were for Swifties around the country mobilize in unprecedented numbers, but certain benchmarks began to look out of reach from the beginning. That being said, $39 million on Friday alone is insane, but it still wasn’t enough to snatch the all-time record away from Joker.
In terms of three-day numbers, The Eras Tour is aiming for somewhere in the $94-97 million range, well below the $100+ million that was being forecast as recently as last week, and there’s no guarantees it’ll top the $96.2 million of Joaquin Phoenix’s Academy Award-winning outing as the Clown Prince of Crime to snatch away the historical monthly crown.
We did say it would have taken a superhuman effort, but in this case, the arch-nemesis of an iconic superhero might have to do. Backed by levels of acclaim even greater than some of the greatest feature films ever made, The Eras Tour is already the top-earning concert film to have ever hit theaters in the United States after 72 hours, but Franchise Entertainment Research consultant David A. Gross admitted he’s got no idea how high it’ll fly because there’s never been anything like it before.
“We’re going to assume the box office will double from here, but there’s no precedent for this. We’re in uncharted territory.”
Taylor Swift waking the box office from its slumber wasn’t on the cards as recently as this summer, so not shattering every record is hardly an affront to the good name of cinema.
