Greg Marcus has been in the movie business for years but he never expected to be urging moviegoers to take out their phones during a film 香蕉视频直播� let alone to be crafting friendship bracelets
But there the chief executive and chair of the Marcus Corporation is in headquartered in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, stringing beads together while humming 香蕉视频直播淪hake It Off.香蕉视频直播�
Movie theaters are readying for an onslaught like they香蕉视频直播檝e never seen before, beginning Friday when 香蕉视频直播淭aylor Swift: The Eras Tour香蕉视频直播� debuts. The concert film, compiled from several is expected to launch with $100 million, or possibly more. Advance ticket sales worldwide have already surpassed $100 million.
Dancing will be encouraged.
香蕉视频直播淭his is different,香蕉视频直播� says Marcus. 香蕉视频直播淭ake your phone out. Take selfies. Dance, sing, get up, have a good time. We want to create an atmosphere.香蕉视频直播�
Concert films, of course, aren香蕉视频直播檛 anything new. Just last month, returned to theaters for a decades-later encore. But 香蕉视频直播淭he Eras Tour香蕉视频直播� heralds something new and potentially game-changing in the movie industry.
Two of the biggest stars on the planet 香蕉视频直播� Swift and 香蕉视频直播� are heading into cinemas in first-of-their-kind deals made directly with AMC Theaters that circumvent Hollywood studios and which, for now, leave streamers waiting on the sidelines.
But how did the once declared-for-dead multiplex become the go-to place this fall a pair of stars
When studios began diverting some of their titles to streaming platforms, movie theaters began thinking harder about how they could fill their screens 香蕉视频直播� a question exacerbated this autumn by an that香蕉视频直播檚 led to the
Movie theaters are increasingly not just a marquee of movie showtimes but a big-screen stage for a variety of visual media. BTS earlier this year , with higher ticket prices and limited showtimes. The Metropolitan Opera has for years done
Few acts can do what Swift and Beyonc茅 can. Their expected success is unlikely to be replicated. But 香蕉视频直播淭he Eras Tour香蕉视频直播� could be the start of an expansion of what, exactly, a movie theater can be. Think , only much cheaper and in most towns.
香蕉视频直播淵ou could say we香蕉视频直播檙e in the movie business, but really we香蕉视频直播檙e in the getting-together-with-other-people business,香蕉视频直播� says Marcus. 香蕉视频直播淭he more we do of it, the more the customers will think about it and the more talent will go: This is something I could do.香蕉视频直播�
Swift香蕉视频直播檚 camp was motivated to get the film out even as her stadium tour continues internationally. The tour, which is projected by Pollstar to gross some $1.4 billion, , saw sky-high resale mark-ups and left many fans priced out.
The movie, directed by Sam Wrench, would be a way for millions more to experience . Adult tickets are being sold for $19.89,香蕉视频直播� a reference to her birth year and 2014 album, a re-recording of which is due out Oct. 27. That香蕉视频直播檚 higher than the average movie ticket but several thousand less than many tickets to see Swift live.
It香蕉视频直播檚 arriving uncommonly fast, too, just a little over two months since the SoFi shows. Speed was one reason Swift香蕉视频直播檚 father, Scott Swift, is said to have sought out a direct deal with AMC. Swift produced the film, herself, and, with 274 million followers on Instagram, didn香蕉视频直播檛 need a studio to promote it.
The has only further brightened the spotlight on the movie. According to ad tracking firm iSpot, TV ads for the film ran only a few dozen times as of Oct. 6, including several spots during NFL broadcasts. (A Marvel movie, by comparison, might run several thousand TV commercials.)
Ticket sales will be split 43% with theaters and 57% shared by Swift and AMC 香蕉视频直播� with the lion香蕉视频直播檚 share of that going to Swift. The film will play exclusively in theaters for at least 13 weeks 香蕉视频直播� longer than many Hollywood releases do now. AMC CEO Adam Aron has called the deal 香蕉视频直播渁 coup for AMC香蕉视频直播� on social media.
Both AMC and representatives for Swift declined to discuss the film香蕉视频直播檚 release.
After a premiere in Los Angeles on Wednesday, there won香蕉视频直播檛 be any advance screenings until the movie begins playing at 6 p.m. local time Friday. Most wide-release movies open with Thursday showings and Friday daytime screenings. It香蕉视频直播檚 another wrinkle in a nontraditional release that香蕉视频直播檚 challenging Hollywood norms.
香蕉视频直播淚nnovation comes out of challenging times in this business. We香蕉视频直播檙e seeing a lot of changes, some subtle, some not so subtle,香蕉视频直播� says Paul Dergarabedian, senior media analyst for data firm Comscore. 香蕉视频直播淚t seems like, right now, there are no rules when it comes to being successful.香蕉视频直播�
Dergarabedian believes the two concert films should help lift the North American box office to more than $9 billion in 2023, up from the $7.4 billion of last year and edging closer to the $11.4 billion of 2019.
香蕉视频直播淚t really opens up the idea that other types of content can play really well in a movie theater,香蕉视频直播� he says.
Some of those changes have been facilitated by the abolishment of long-held antitrust restrictions governing movie distribution. After more than 70 years of regulating divisions between exhibition and distribution, were terminated in 2020 with a two-year sunset period that ran until last year.
香蕉视频直播淚nnovation had effectively been stunted,香蕉视频直播� says Makan Delrahim, the former antitrust chief at the Justice Department who proposed ending the consent decrees.
Delrahim believes 香蕉视频直播淭aylor Swift: The Eras Tour香蕉视频直播� 香蕉视频直播� as a movie distributed by a theater chain, with nontraditional ticket prices 香蕉视频直播� could 香蕉视频直播渇uel new business models to save the exhibitors.香蕉视频直播�
香蕉视频直播淭here will be more appetite to experiment different models for theatrical distribution,香蕉视频直播� Delrahim says. 香蕉视频直播淭he industry needs it and, frankly, so do consumers.香蕉视频直播�
Meanwhile, 香蕉视频直播淭aylor Swift: The Eras Tour香蕉视频直播� is poised to become the biggest concert film ever in about two days of release. Not accounting for inflation, 2011香蕉视频直播檚 香蕉视频直播淛ustin Bieber: Never Say Never香蕉视频直播� holds that mark with $73.1 million across its entire run. Accounting for inflation, it will be harder for 香蕉视频直播淭he Eras Tour香蕉视频直播� to catch 香蕉视频直播淲oodstock,香蕉视频直播� which grossed $50 million in 1970, a total that translates to nearly $400 million today.
In Marcus香蕉视频直播� theaters, like many other chains, there will be friendship bracelet stations. Sound systems have been modified for more of a concert feel. And while Marcus grants it will be strange to see an AMC logo before a film playing in his theaters, he doesn香蕉视频直播檛 particularly mind.
香蕉视频直播淚香蕉视频直播檓 just happy it香蕉视频直播檚 there,香蕉视频直播� he says.
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Follow AP Film Writer Jake Coyle on Twitter at:
Jake Coyle, The Associated Press
