AMC Theatre’s revenue increase “literally all” from Taylor Swift and Beyoncé concert films
AMC Theatres’ increased revenue is “literally all” from Taylor Swift and Beyoncé‘s concert films, the company’s CEO has revealed.
In the fourth quarter of last year, the cinema chain saw revenue jump 11% to $1.1 billion, beating Wall Street’s forecasts.
Now, AMC Theatres CEO Adam Aron has admitted that those profits are entirely down to screenings of Taylor Swift: The Eras Tour and Renaissance: A Film by Beyoncé.
“What is particularly noteworthy is how much AMC benefited from our trailblazing industry leading efforts with our highly successful distribution of two concert movies Taylor Swift | The Eras Tour and Renaissance: A Film By Beyoncé,” said Aron in a statement (via Deadline).
“Literally, all of that increase in AMC’s Revenue and EBITDA is attributable to our having shown these two movies in our theatres in the U.S. and internationally,” he added.
The films also boosted cinema ticket sales across the entire industry, he said, representing one ninth of the fourth quarter’s domestic box office total.
“This is a stunning result given that neither of these films were on anyone’s drawing board until mid-year, and that they were the first movies ever distributed by AMC in our entire 103-year history,” said Aron.
“To that end, our praise for Taylor Swift and Beyoncé Knowles Carter has no limit, and we offer our boundless thanks to these two world class artists for entrusting AMC to collaborate with them as to the theatrical exhibition of their two masterpiece creations.”
In January, Taylor Swift: The Eras Tour officially became the highest-grossing concert film of all time, overtaking Michael Jackson‘s This Is It with an overall global taking of $261.6million (£206m).
After its release in October, the film scored the biggest opening weekend for a concert film in history, while the tour itself was the first ever to gross $1billion.
The film documents the six performances completed by Swift at Los Angeles’ SoFi Stadium earlier this year. The shows encompassed a career-spanning setlist that lifted songs from all ten of her albums from ‘Fearless’ to ‘Midnights’.
“The Eras Tour is a concert movie in the true sense,” NME wrote in a four-star review. “In the space of one seamless performance, Swift is at turns a playfully eccentric artist, a country star and a genuine pop icon.”