How many of the films in the top 10 have you seen?
Taylor Swift: The Eras Tour concert film grossed $39 million in its first official day in U.S. theaters, Friday, Oct. 13, according to boxofficemojo.com. That already makes it the fourth highest-grossing music concert film of all time. Taylor Swift’s film is all but certain to become the new leader on that list, quite possibly today (Oct. 15). We will update this list as boxofficemojo.com updates the film’s boxoffice tally.
Swift’s film is screening in AMC theaters in the U.S., Canada and Mexico, as well as certain other movie operators that AMC is working with as distributor. AMC is offering the film in IMAX and Dolby Cinema as well as standard screenings. Every U.S. AMC Theatre location will run the movie at least four times per day on Thursdays, Fridays, Saturdays and Sundays while it’s showing.
The Eras Tour film was shot over the course of Swift’s first three shows at SoFi Stadium in Inglewood, Calif., where she performed a total of six shows in early August. It was directed by Sam Wrench, who received a Grammy nomination late last year for directing Billie Eilish Live at the O2, which was a contender for best music film. He has also worked on projects by BTS, Lizzo, Ariana Grande, Justin Bieber, The Weeknd and Mary J. Blige.
The film premiered on Wednesday (Oct. 11) at The Grove in Los Angeles. A host of VIPs were on hand — from fellow pop queen Beyoncé to Adam Sandler, Maren Morris and Julia Garner. Billboard’s Katie Atkinson, who attended one of Swift’s SoFi shows and also covered an earlier Swift show at Allegiant Stadium in Las Vegas, was at the premiere and filed this report.
Here are the 10 highest-grossing music concert films, according to boxofficemojo.com. This list counts only domestic box-office receipts, which explains the absence of previous Swift projects such as the Netflix documentary Miss Americana (2020).
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U2, U2 3D
Release Date: Jan. 23, 2008
Domestic Gross: $10.4 million
Director: Catherine Owens, Mark Pellington
Running Time: 1:25
Notes: U2 3D was the first live-action digital 3D film. This captured the band’s Vertigo Tour of 2005-06. Although set in Buenos Aires, U2 3D was shot at seven concerts across Latin America, and two in Australia. The complex setup involved shooting with up to 18 3D cameras simultaneously and capturing the footage digitally. The film contains performances of 14 songs, including tracks from How to Dismantle an Atomic Bomb (2004), the Grammy-winner for album of the year that the tour supported.
Glee: The 3D Concert Movie
Release Date: Aug. 12, 2011
Domestic Gross: $11.9 million
Director: Kevin Tancharoen
Running Time: 1:24
Notes: This concert doc was shot during the Glee Live! In Concert! Tour stop in East Rutherford, N.J. Would fans pay to see Lea Michele, Chris Colfer, Cory Monteith, Dianna Agron and other Glee favorites when they could see them for free every week on TV? More than a few did. In addition to behind-the-scenes footage, the film portrays the series’ influence on teenagers, including a gay kid, one with Asperger syndrome and a cheerleader of short stature. The fan segments were created by documentary filmmaker Jennifer Arnold.
The accompanying soundtrack album, Glee: The 3D Concert Movie, didn’t do that well. It reached No. 16 on the Billboard 200, becoming the first Glee title to fall short of the top 10 on that chart.
Madonna: Truth or Dare
Release Date: May 10, 1991
Domestic Gross: $15 million
Director: Alek Keshishian
Running Time: 2:00
Notes: The doc followed Madonna on her Blond Ambition world tour of 1990. The movie’s tag line: “The ultimate dare is to tell the truth.” Madonna: Truth or Dare was known as In Bed With Madonna internationally. The film was initially intended to be a traditional concert film, but director Keshishian was so impressed with Madonna’s backstage life that he persuaded the star to make it the focus of the film. The film was edited to be in black-and-white, in order to emulate cinéma vérité, while the performance scenes are in color.
Madonna was nominated for a Razzie Award for worst actress for this film. The Razzies deserve a razzie for that really dumb move: This was a great music doc.
Jonas Brothers: The 3D Concert Experience
Release Date: Feb. 27, 2009
Domestic Gross: $19. 1 million
Director: Bruce Hendricks
Running Time: 1:16
Notes: Ah, youth. Nick Jonas was just 16 when this film came out. Joe was 19; Kevin was 21. This 3D concert film captured their 2008-09 The Burning Up concert tour. An accompanying album, Music From the 3D Concert Experience, was released three days before the film and entered the Billboard 200 at No. 3.
Katy Perry: Part of Me
Release Date: July 5, 2012
Domestic Gross: $25.3 million
Director: Dan Cutforth, Jane Lipsitz
Running Time: 1:33
Notes: This film followed Perry on her 2011-12 California Dreams world tour. The film was released less than a year after Perry’s Teenage Dream tied Michael Jackson’s Bad record for the most No. 1 singles from an album. (Never fear: He’s coming up on this list.) Part of Me took its title from the title of a then-recent Perry smash, which entered the Hot 100 at No. 1 on March 3, 2012. The film follows Perry through her tour, while providing insight into her relationship with stardom.
One Direction: This Is Us
Release Date: Aug. 30, 2013
Domestic Gross: $28.9 million
Director: Morgan Spurlock
Running Time: 1:32
Notes: This is the highest-grossing contemporary music concert film by a group. 1D released this film in between their albums Take Me Home and Midnight Memories, both of which entered the Billboard 200 at No. 1. Billed as an intimate, all-access look at life on the road for the global pop stars, This Is Us contains live concert footage from their Take Me Home Tour stop at London’s O2 Arena, and footage from their lives both pre- and post-X Factor.
Taylor Swift: The Eras Tour
Release Date: Oct. 13, 2023
Domestic Gross: $39 million (so far)
Director: Sam Wrench
Running time: 2:49
Notes: Taylor Swift: The Eras Tour depicts performances of almost all of the songs on the tour’s standard set list. A handful of songs were cut to keep the film’s running time under three hours. The film received critical acclaim for capturing the show’s spectacle and energy. Billboard’s Katie Atkinson’s main takeaway: “Whether you never attended The Eras Tour or you went dozens of times, you will leave this movie with a new perspective of the career-spanning trek. While front-row fans or the JumboTron cameras might have captured a cute facial expression or dance move here and there, the cameras caught everything, making it feel like you’re onstage with Swift and crew.”
Hannah Montana and Miley Cyrus: Best of Both Worlds Concert
Release Date: Feb. 1, 2008
Domestic Gross: $65.3 million
Director: Bruce Hendricks
Running Time: 1:14
Notes: Cyrus was just 15 when this film was released, yet it became the highest-grossing contemporary music concert film ever by a female artist. (For the time being.) The film features Miley’s dad Billy Ray Cyrus and special guests Jonas Brothers. An album, Best of Both Worlds Concert, was released the following month (on March 11), and reached No. 3 on the Billboard 200 dated May 3, 2008. The film premiered on Disney Channel on July 26, 2008, reaching 5.9 million viewers.
Michael Jackson’s This Is It
Release Date: Oct. 28, 2009
Domestic Gross: $72.1 million
Director: Kenny Ortega
Running Time: 1:51
Notes: “Like you’ve never seen him before” was the tagline for this film, which was released just four months after Jackson’s shocking death on June 25, 2009. It’s a compilation of interviews, dancer auditions, rehearsals and backstage footage as Jackson prepared for his 50-show run at the 02 Arena in London (which was set to kick off on July 13.) There was a heated debate at the time about whether Jackson, who was famously a perfectionist, would have wanted this rehearsal footage to be released. Here he was, working toward a goal – but he wasn’t there yet. However, many thought seeing the work process here humanized him. Turns out achieving perfection is bloody hard work. A double-disk soundtrack from the film entered the Billboard 200 at No. 1.
Justin Bieber: Never Say Never
Release Date: Feb. 11, 2011
Domestic Gross: $73 million
Director: Jon M. Chu
Running time: 1:45
Notes: “Find out what’s possible if you never give up” was the inspiring tagline for this film, which followed the then-16-year-old pop star on his 2010 concert tour. The film, which also featured Boyz II Men, Miley Cyrus and Sean Kingston, is the first (and only) film from MTV Films to receive a G-rating. An EP, Never Say Never: The Remixes, was released three days after the film. It entered the Billboard 200 at No. 1. A sequel, Justin Bieber’s Believe, was released on Dec. 25, 2013, but it grossed just $6.2 million domestically.
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