Christopher Nolan has praised Taylor Swift for her innovative approach in releasing her concert film, Taylor Swift: The Eras Tour, directly through AMC theatres.
- READ MORE: ‘Taylor Swift: The Eras Tour’ concert film review: this is cinema (Taylor’s version)
Nolan said that Swift’s deal with AMC is an “incredible lesson” for studios that are reluctant to embrace the theatrical experience, IndieWire reported. Swift’s concert film, which documents her six-night residency at the SoFi Stadium in Los Angeles, broke records for the highest-grossing concert film or documentary of all time, earning $123.5 million globally in its opening weekend.
Swift also notably sold tickets at $19.89 each (and $13.13 for children) in the US, in reference to her acclaimed album and her favourite number. She also bypassed the traditional studio system and negotiated a direct distribution deal with AMC, the largest theatre chain in the US.
“Taylor Swift is about to show the studios, because her concert film is not being distributed by the studios, it’s being distributed by a theatre owner, AMC, and it’s going to make an enormous amount of money,” Nolan said at a recent event at The Graduate Center, CUNY 1.
“And this is the thing: This is a format, this is a way of seeing things and sharing stories, or sharing experiences, that’s incredibly valuable. And if they don’t want it, somebody else will. So that’s just the truth of it,” he added.
Nolan also commended Swift for finding a way to produce her film amid the ongoing Hollywood strikes and securing an interim agreement with SAG-AFTRA, the union that represents actors and performers.
Swift is not the only pop star who has opted for a non-traditional release strategy for her concert film. Beyoncé, who will release her own concert film, Beyoncé: The Formation World Tour, in December, also made a deal with AMC to distribute her film exclusively in theatres for two weeks before moving it to Disney+.
“The Eras Tour is a concert movie in the true sense,” NME wrote in a four-star review. “A genre-hopping, time-travelling jaunt through nine of Swift’s studio albums as far back as 2008’s ‘Fearless’.”