Taylor Swift’s “Taylor Swift: The Era’s Tour.” a highly anticipated concert-type movie which is a recording of Swift’s career spanning and record breaking Era’s Tour, caused chaos among movie theaters and Hollywood producers worldwide as they scrambled to dodge the crowd headed for theaters Oct. 13. “The Exorcist: Believer,” a horror film which was set to release the same date along with “Ordinary Angels” and others, moved release dates when Swift announced her movie. Ever since the end of the Covid-19 pandemic, movie theater ticket purchases have been rising, especially since the release of “Barbie” and “Oppenheimer,” but is the delay of these movies damaging the theater industry, or will the influx of people buying tickets for “Taylor Swift: The Era’s Tour” boost the theater industry?
October was bound to be a huge month for movie releases, releasing the first movie in the new Exorcist trilogy, a rom-com featuring Meg Ryan called “What Happens Later,” and “Ordinary Angels.” However, Taylor Swift’s surprise announcement caused these movies to switch their release dates because of their fear of the influence Swift holds over movie goers, and people in general.
The movie that was hit the worst by this sudden announcement was “The Exorcist: Believer”, which was set to release on Oct. 13. The horror movie had aimed to release on Friday the 13th, known for the frightening superstition surrounding it, but had to move it due to Swift’s movie. “Look what you made me do. The Exorcist: Believer moves to 10/6/23,” said producer Jason Blum, along with the hashtag #TaylorWins.
“I think it really goes to show Taylor’s influence over not just the music industry, but the media as a whole. I mean, those movies felt like they really couldn’t compete with Taylor, just because they knew that her presence is so large,” said Marcus Knight, a sophomore Swiftie, when asked for his thoughts on the movie switching dates.
Although his ideas may seem a bit far fetched, he’s not wrong. Swift’s surprise announcement of the movie and presale tickets caused havoc as Swifties rushed to buy tickets. The first 24 hours of presales alone gave Swift a whopping $26 million dollars, that income was just from the United States. After announcing the film would be released across multiple other countries though, she surpassed even that and has now made more than $100 million in global pre-sales, according to AMC. Following such a display of power and influence, it’s no surprise that not only did Blum switch his release date, but “Ordinary Angels,” disappeared from release calendars completely.
Movie theaters and ticket purchases have been going up since Covid, however, people have been debating whether Swift’s movie will cause a boost overall. “I mean, it’s definitely bringing a lot of money to the industry, much like the actual Eras Tour bringing money to towns and like, boosting economies,” said Knight. “But I think, similarly to that, the like, income won’t be the same, it’ll only be for a short while, when the movie’s running.”
Knight is right, the movie will most likely only boost the income for as long as it plays in theaters, when Swifties can connect and dress up for it. This same phenomenon happened with “Barbie”—when everyone wore pink and dressed as Kens for the movie.
Swifties all over the world are hoping it’ll be an opportunity like the Era’s Tour was: a chance to not only see Taylor Swift, but be among other Swifties dressed in glitter and trading bracelets (a trend based off Swift’s song “You’re On Your Own Kid” from her album Midnights).
In the end, Swift and Blum’s mess will inevitably fix itself through the continuous release of movies. Although sad, and maybe even frustrating, that these movies moved dates, the real problem was in underestimating Swift’s influence in the first place. Any holes left by the money “The Exorcist: Believer” could’ve made by releasing on Oct. 13 will be filled, and people will continue to watch movies, in theater, or at home.
