“Our phone has been ringing off the hook”, AMC Theaters’ CEO said on Wednesday, hinting that more concert movies like Taylor Swift’s could appear in cinemas soon.
The success of Taylor Swift: The Eras Tour seems to have sent shockwaves through the US cinema industry, and there’s every chance its success could be more impactful for chains than Barbenheimer.
Speaking to investors on Wednesday, AMC Theaters’ CEO, Adam Aron, revealed – surprise surprise – Swifties have delivered a tidy profit to the embattled cinema chain.
The distribution of The Eras Tour made headlines at the time by cutting out studios altogether – instead, profits are being divided more-or-less entirely between Swift and AMC. We bet that’s got their accountants very excited, and very keen to repeat the same trick when Renaissance: A Film By Beyoncé launches stateside on the 1st December.
“A significant number of the world’s best artists would like to explore doing things with AMC,” Aron added, per Deadline. While there aren’t many artists that can attract a fanbase quite as large or as passionate as Swift, in the short term at least, it sounds like the company is looking to find one.
But why stop with concerts? And why stop at movies at all? Aron also said he dreams of putting sporting events on the big screen. “If you think a football game looks good on a 55-inch TV in your living room, imagine how good it would look on a 55-foot screen at an AMC theater”. Our hearts go out to the ushers that have to clean up after that screening.
Even if nothing comes close to matching The Eras Tour’s success, this apparent shift in strategy away from the film industry could be seismic. The concert film has previously sparked significant debates over cinema etiquette for non-traditional movie content – breaking the film industry’s monopoly on the big screen could have a huge impact no matter what we end up watching.
