Taylor Swift’s limited release party film for her new record, The Life of a Showgirl, has sold $15 million in advance ticket sales within 24 hours of going on sale.
Deadline reported over the weekend that the film titled Taylor Swift: The Official Release Party of a Showgirl, is forecast to rake in between $30 million and $50 million. The film will screen exclusively during the October 3-5 weekend at AMC theaters across the US.
The film serves as an album promo for The Life of a Showgirl instead of a pure box office play. The 89-minute runtime includes the world premiere of Swift’s The Fate of Ophelia music video, personal commentary on new album tracks, behind-the-scenes footage from video production and lyric videos.
Showgirl helped AMC record its sixth-highest single day of presales on Friday (September 19), generating about $7.5 million from Swift’s film alone, according to Deadline.
The distribution deal was reportedly pitched by Swift’s team to AMC Entertainment Chairman and CEO Adam Aron in late August. In contrast, the 2023 Eras Tour film was initially pitched by Swift’s representatives to multiple studios before AMC secured the rights. That earlier release generated $180.8 million at home and $267.1 million globally to become the highest-grossing theatrical release of all time among both concert films and documentaries.
Sources told Deadline that the Eras Tour film generated a net profit of $172 million.
The news outlet said Swift has again bypassed traditional studio partnerships, maintaining control over distribution. Marketing efforts for the Showgirl film remain minimal, with digital billboards appearing in major cities but no trailers released. Swift has instead used her social media presence across platforms reaching 547 million followers as her main promotional vehicle.
Deadline said it is estimated that the marketing budget for the film is smaller than the $55 million global advertising spend for the Eras Tour concert movie in 2023.
Meanwhile, ticket pricing is set at $12 plus taxes, lower than the previous concert film’s $13.13 for kids and seniors and $20 for adults. Swift’s team determined the pricing structure directly, Deadline said.
AMC will screen the film across all 540 domestic locations. Variance Films handles US and Canadian distribution, while Piece of Magic Entertainment manages international markets. The film will launch in 18 countries including Mexico, the UK, Ireland, France, Germany, Switzerland, Austria, Belgium, the Netherlands, Luxembourg, Sweden, Norway, Denmark, Finland, South Africa, Australia and New Zealand, according to Deadline.
Swift worked with Max Martin and Shellback on The Life of a Showgirl record. The same Swedish producers collaborated with her on hits from her Reputation and 1989 records.
Unlike her previous record, The Tortured Poets Department, which had 31 tracks, Showgirl will have no bonus songs. Speaking on Travis Kelce’s New Heights podcast with Jason Kelce, Swift said: “There’s no other songs coming. It’s not like with Tortured Poets Department when I was like, ‘Here’s a data dump of everything I’ve thought, felt or experienced in two or three years. Here’s 31 songs.’ This is 12. There’s not a 13th… There’s not other ones coming. This is the record I’ve been wanting to make for a very long time.”
Here’s the complete tracklist for The Life of a Showgirl, to be released via Republic on October 3.
- The Fate of Ophelia
- Elizabeth Taylor
- Opalite
- Father Figure
- Eldest Daughter
- Ruin the Friendship
- Actually Romantic
- Wi$h Li$t
- Wood
- Cancelled!
- Honey
- The Life of a Showgirl featuring Sabrina Carpenter
Showgirl marks Swift’s latest record after buying back the master recordings of her first six studio albums from investment firm Shamrock Capital on May 30, a deal that represented a full-circle moment for Swift, whose masters were included in the sale of Scooter Braun’ Big Machine Label Group to Ithaca Holdings in 2019. Ithaca Holdings then sold the master rights to Taylor Swift’s first six studio albums to Shamrock in 2020.
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