Taylor Swift’s Eras Tour was a far-reaching, multi-platform phenomenon. There was the tour itself, a two-year endeavor with billions of dollars in ticket sales alone. There was all of the merchandising alongside the tour, with Taylor even setting up “tour shops” in advance of her concerts, and the merch business also made billions. Then Taylor organized an Eras concert film – she produced it herself, she didn’t work with any studio or major production company, and she presented the concert film as a finished product to AMC. The concert film became a phenomenon as well, and because Taylor pretty much did the whole thing in-house, she made a ton of money from the film as well. Well, in a few weeks, Taylor’s new album will be released. The Life of a Showgirl comes out on October 3rd. The Hollywood Reporter has an exclusive – apparently, Taylor is releasing some kind of movie in theaters to coincide with the album drop.

Taylor Swift is prepping to return to theaters, multiple sources tell The Hollywood Reporter. The news comes just weeks before the superstar is set to release her upcoming album, The Life of a Showgirl. The content of the theatrical event is unclear, but sources say that it will be tied to The Life of a Showgirl, Swift’s new studio album that drops on Friday, Oct. 3. Multiple sources say the theatrical event will also drop that weekend.

The event is shrouded in mystery, and it is unknown who directed the project, though it’s possible Swift helmed it herself after directing Folklore: The Long Pond Studio Sessions documentary that hit Disney+ in 2020. Sam Wrench helmed 2023’s The Eras Tour movie.

Like her tour itself, The Eras Tour film was a phenomenon two years ago, becoming the top grossing concert film of all time with $261.6 million globally. Swift and her team financed the $15 million project herself, bypassing the Hollywood studio system and partnering with AMC Theatres on the project.

AMC did not respond to requests for comment as to its involvement, if any, in the upcoming special screening. But sources speculate that AMC could easily be in the mix. And, like other circuits, AMC is still recovering from a rough summer at the box office and can use all the special event content it can get. September has seen something of a rebound, but domestic revenue is up by only 6 percent over last year. At the beginning of June, revenue was up by more than 20 percent.

[From THR]

Taylor has been directing for several years now, as THR notes. She’s directed several of her music videos, as well as the short film for “All Too Well.” My guess is that she’s directed something Lemonade-esque featuring all or most of the songs in The Life of a Showgirl. Beyonce did it first! Beyonce’s Lemonade aired on HBO though. It’s interesting if this is Taylor’s route – like, will she even do any traditional “music videos” for this album, or is it all about the movie or whatever this is? Taylor has such power in the industry, if she says music videos are over, then they’re probably over.

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Photos courtesy of Backgrid. Album cover & IG courtesy of Taylor Swift.