NEW YORK (AP) — 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 — let…
— 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 — let alone to be crafting friendship bracelets in preparation for an opening weekend.
But there the chief executive and chair of the Marcus Corporation is in a promotion for his theater chain headquartered in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, stringing beads together while humming “Shake It Off.”
Movie theaters are readying for an onslaught like they’ve never seen before, beginning Friday when “Taylor Swift: The Eras Tour” debuts. The concert film, compiled from several Swift shows at Southern California’s SoFi Stadium, is expected to launch with $100 million, or possibly more. Advance ticket sales worldwide have already surpassed $100 million.
Swifties will descend. Dancing will be encouraged.
“This is different,” says Marcus. “Take your phone out. Take selfies. Dance, sing, get up, have a good time. We want to create an atmosphere.”
Concert films, of course, aren’t anything new. Just last month, the Talking Heads classic “Stop Making Sense” returned to theaters for a decades-later encore. But “The Eras Tour” heralds something new and potentially game-changing in the movie industry.
Two of the biggest stars on the planet — Swift and , in December under a very similar arrangement, Beyoncé — 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 previously at home on Netflix?
When studios began diverting some of their titles to streaming platforms, movie theaters began thinking harder about how they could fill their screens — a question exacerbated this autumn by an actors strike that’s led to the postponement of big releases like “Dune: Part Two.”
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 released a concert film, with higher ticket prices and limited showtimes. The Metropolitan Opera has for years done popular live broadcasts in theaters.
Few acts can do what Swift and Beyoncé can.
