Christopher Nolan is among those who believe that the blockbuster release of “Taylor Swift: The Eras Tour” is a firm reminder of the value of movie theaters.
Amid a wide-ranging, 72-minute conversation between Nolan, Emma Thomas and Pulitzer Prize-winning biographer Kai Bird, the “Oppenheimer” filmmaker credited Swift with showing that theaters can be where it happens in terms of massively popular cultural events.
Thomas spoke and took aim at the Hollywood studios in video you can watch above, stating “We’ve been in this weird position over the last couple of years where they haven’t been putting movies in theaters.” Nolan interjected, in a conversation that took place on Oct. 11, before the global release of Swift’s concert movie.
Nolan declared that Swift was “about to show the studios, ’cause her concert is not being distributed by the studios. It’s being distributed by the theater owner AMC, and it’s going to make an enormous amount of money.”
Indeed, “The Eras Tour” shattered records for a concert film or any kind of documentary, earning $93 million in North America and $123.5 million globally in its Thurs-Sun rollout. The film will play exclusively Thurs-Sun for the near future, and it’s expected to maintain at least some of that fan-driven opening weekend momentum.
Nolan continued, speaking about theatrical exhibition, “This is a format, a way of seeing things and sharing stories or sharing experiences that’s incredibly valuable.” He stated, “If they [theatrically-inclined studios] don’t want it, someone else will.”
Nolan’s “Oppenheimer” has earned a colossal $950 million worldwide since opening in July, making it the biggest-grossing biopic and the top-earning straight drama in unadjusted global box office. It’s also the second-biggest R-rated earner ever behind the $1.073 billion-grossing “Joker” in 2019.
The Boxoffice Company president Stan Ruszkowski previously told TheWrap that “Swift’s choice to go with a wide theatrical release, as opposed to putting her filmed concert on streaming, affirms that “the theater is still the place for wide-reaching, mainstream pop-culture events.” It would seem that the director of “Inception” and “The Dark Knight” would agree.
