Box Office Report for the Week of October 15

After many dormant weeks, the box office swiftly rose this weekend (if you catch my drift). Yes, I’m talking about Taylor Swift: The Eras Tour — the ONLY major release this weekend after Blumhouse got scared and moved The Exorcist: Believer to October 6. While it fell short of a projected $100 million opening weekend, the film still reached a $96 million tally and broke several records.

First, with only one weekend, it has already become the highest-grossing concert movie of all time, surpassing Justin Bieber: Never Say Never by a wide margin. It also broke the opening-week record held by Joker for the month of October, which opened at $95 million. Will it be the first concert film to reach $1 billion? I don’t believe so, as AMC has truncated its release. The film is only available for viewing at PLF/IMAX screens over the weekend, and subsequent showings around the week are limited.

Perhaps if the demand is high, AMC will continue playing it regularly to maintain its momentum, and it would be especially beneficial for cinemas that have been affected by the ongoing SAG-AFTRA strike. The strike could’ve ended last week, but the AMPTP has seemingly decided to play by their old (and failed) playbook instead of paying and treating their actors fairly. Hopefully, the studios will return to the negotiating table soon and take this matter seriously.

In any event, Taylor Swift’s film was the only release this week that impacted cinemas, while other films, such as The Exorcist: Believer and The Creator, have completely fizzled out. Both films have dropped precipitously and aren’t looking for any signs of recovery, with The Exorcist sequel accumulating a mere $11 million, while The Creator gets $4 million. Of course, The Exorcist: Believer was expected to tumble once Taylor Swift was released, but its bad reviews aren’t helping it gain momentum. And while The Creator was certainly better received, the film never became a hit among audience members.

The future of studio cinema seems to be in shambles, but Swift’s experiment with AMC theatres bodes very well for Renaissance: A Film by Beyoncé, which will also establish many box office records when it releases on December 1. Who will win the battle? We’ll have to see once Beyoncé’s film comes out, but I personally couldn’t be more excited to see Renaissance on the big screen…

Here is the full list of the top ten films of the weekend:

1. Taylor Swift: The Eras Tour (AMC): $96.0M – 3,855 theatres
2. The Exorcist: Believer (Universal): $11.0M (-58.5%) – 3,684 theatres
3. PAW Patrol: The Mighty Movie (Paramount): $7.0M (-38.2%) – 3,707 theatres
4. Saw X (Lionsgate): $5.7M (-27.3%) – 3,058 theatres
5. The Creator (Disney): $4.3M (-31.1%) – 2,960 theatres
6. A Haunting in Venice (Disney): $2.05M (-23.8%) – 2,290 theatres
7. The Blind (Fathom Events): $2.02M (-36.9%) – 1,165 theatres
8. The Nun II (Warner Bros.): $1.6M (-38%) – 2,128 theatres
9. The Equalizer 3 (Sony): $960.000 (-46.4%) – 1,524 theatres
10. Dumb Money (Sony): $920.000 (-56.7%) – 2,276 theatres

Source: Box Office Mojo