Taylor Swift — whose “The Eras Tour” concert was attended by over 3 million fans during its first leg in the United States — will soon be drawing crowds to movie theaters.
AMC Theatres will be screening a concert film of “The Eras Tour” in a programming initiative that will allow fans in the United States, Canada and Mexico to enjoy the concert film on the big screens of movie theaters, the movie exhibition company said in a Thursday (Aug. 31) press release. The film is scheduled to open on Oct. 13.
In addition to exhibiting the concert film at its own theaters, AMC Theatres is also acting as the theatrical distributor, securing locations and screens with numerous other movie theater operators, according to the press release.
The company has secured deals with exhibitors such as Cinemark in the U.S., Cineplex in Canada and Cinepolis in Mexico to showcase the film. AMC expects numerous other movie theatre operators to join in screening the concert film.
“This marks the inaugural step of a new line of business for AMC Entertainment,” the firm said when announcing it will act as the theatrical distributor.
AMC Theatres has upgraded its website and ticketing engines to handle the anticipated high demand for tickets, according to the press release. It can now handle more than five times the largest influx of ticket-buying traffic it has ever experienced. However, it notes that guests may experience delays and longer waiting times during the ticket-purchasing process due to the overwhelming popularity of Taylor Swift and the limited availability of tickets.
The company also said in the release that it has temporarily restricted the usage of AMC Stubs rewards towards online ticket purchases to accommodate the huge initial demand, that the full allotment of showtimes for the concert film will be available for purchase at the box office of all AMC locations, and that there will be no refunds offered on ticket purchases in an effort to discourage speculation on secondary-ticketing sites.
“The Eras Tour” is poised to break concert records to be the first making over $1 billion, PYMNTS reported Aug. 14.
The tour has also tested the ticket-reselling business in new ways. Resale platforms and would-be ticket buyers alike have run into a variety of problems due to high demand and low inventory.