FILE – Taylor Swift arrives at the 67th annual Grammy Awards on Sunday, Feb. 2, 2025, in Los Angeles. Taylor Swift’s music film “The Official Release Party of a Showgirl” is the top-grossing draw at the box office this weekend. Photo by Jordan Strauss (Invision/AP, File)
LOS ANGELES (CNS) – Taylor Swift’s unusual music film “The Official Release Party of a Showgirl” is the top-grossing draw at the box office this weekend, taking in $33 million to lead all films in North America, according to industry estimates released Sunday.
Not a traditional concert film, the 89-minute release features behind-the-scenes footage and the music video for “The Fate of Ophelia,” a single from the star’s just-released album, “The Life of a Showgirl.” Swift put the film together quickly with little advance marketing and offered it to theaters for three days only, Friday through Sunday.
Last weekend’s top-grossing film, writer/director Paul Thomas Anderson’s “One Battle After Another,” made $11.1 million in its second week, Comscore reported.
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“The Smashing Machine,” a biopic of MMA star Mark Kerr starring Dwayne Johnson and Emily Blunt and directed by Benny Safdie, opened in third place with $6 million.
DreamWorks’ “Gabby’s Dollhouse: The Movie” claimed fourth place with $5.2 million in its second weekend, followed by “The Conjuring: Last Rites,” which grossed $4 million in its fifth weekend.
Rounding out the top 10 domestic releases were “Demon Slayer: Kimetsu no Yaiba — the Movie Infinity Castle” ($3.5 million), a re-release of 2022’s “Avatar: The Way of Water” ($3.19 million), “The Strangers: Chapter 2” ($2.8 million), “Good Boy” ($2.2 million) and “Kantara A Legend: Chapter 1” ($1.7 million).
‘The Official Release Party of a Showgirl’
Swift’s devoted fanbase once again proved unstoppable with her film “The Official Release Party of a Showgirl.”
The AMC Theatres release — announced only two weeks ago with minimal promotion — served as a companion piece to Swift’s 12th studio album, packaging music videos, behind-the-scenes footage and profanity-free lyric visuals into an 89-minute experience.
The film played at all 540 AMC theaters in the U.S. for three days, ending after Sunday. AMC aired the show in Mexico, Canada and across Europe.
“For Taylor Swift to harness the power of the movie theater to build her brand, create excitement among her fans, and create a communal experience outside of her touring, outside of her live performances, is really a stroke of genius,” said Paul Dergarabedian, the senior media analyst for Comscore. “To be able to add another $33 million to the box office bottom line is much welcomed by theater owners who were looking for content for their big screens.”
It comes nearly two years after her “The Eras Tour” concert film opened to $96 million, with Swift extending her streak of box office dominance. (With CNS and AP reports)
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