Highlights
- Taylor Swift's "Eras Tour" has propelled her to a new level of success, with sold-out shows and immense popularity.
- Swift decided to release her concert film in theaters instead of on a streaming service, angering major movie studios.
- Swift obtained a waiver from the unions to release her film, and independently financed and distributed it, disrupting the leverage of movie studios during the ongoing strike.
Taylor Swift's current "Eras Tour" has brought the singer to a whole new level of success. From the controversy over ticket presales to the sold-out crowds every single night, Swift is experiencing what might be the most successful period of her career.
Therefore, it makes perfect sense why Swift would want to document "The Eras Tour" for a concert film. However, unlike most artists, Swift will not be releasing the film to a streaming service. Instead, the film will be released in theaters.
Swift didn't work with a movie studio amid the current strike. Instead, she made a distribution deal with theaters. This has reportedly angered major movie studios.
Fran Drescher Spoke Out Against Hollywood Executives While Announcing SAG-AFTRA Strike
The ongoing strike from the Screen Actors Guild (SAG) and the Writers Guild of America (WGA) has received a lot of attention. It ignited in July 2023 when guild president Fran Drescher announced SAG-AFTRA was going on strike.
During her passionate speech, Drescher spoke out against Hollywood executives, saying they're greedy and "on the wrong side of history." She also said the Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers (AMPTP) "cannot change the business model as much as it has changed and not expect the contract to change too."
"At some point you have to say no more," Drescher told The Associated Press. "I think that it’s taken on a bigger scope, it’s greater than the sum of its parts. I think it’s a conversation now about the culture of big business, and how it treats everybody up and down the ladder in the name of profit."
Drescher reflected on how the business has changed since she got her big break on The Nanny.
"I’m very grateful that I got my big break during that time and not this time," she said. "When I started on The Nanny at CBS, that was still a family owned business. You knew who the owners were and you could talk to them. And everything has changed."
"Now, when you have a business model where the CEOs are more connected to the shareholders and not to the people that actually make the product that they’re selling," Drescher continued. "I think that you have a breakdown that is unsustainable."
At the time of Drescher's interview with The Associated Press, she said the AMPTP had not yet reached out to SAG-AFTRA, despite beginning talks with the WGA.
"I’m not really understanding what the silent treatment is," Drescher said. "It could be a tactical strategy to see if they can wait us out until we lose our resolve and then they can make a better deal for themselves."
However, Drescher said there is no way that would happen.
"This is an inflection point," she said. "I don’t think anybody that’s in charge of the AMPTP quite understands that. This is not like any past negotiation. We’re in a whole new ball game. And if things don’t change radically, quite frankly, I think that they’re going to ultimately get very hurt by this strike."
Taylor Swift Was Granted A Waiver By The Unions To Release Her 'Eras Tour' Concert Film
Taylor Swift has reached a new level of her career with "The Eras Tour." Her sold-out shows and die-hard Swifties have made this period, perhaps, the biggest era of her career. There have been so many memorable moments during the tour so far. One of those moments was when she announced her latest re-recording.
Swift stopped the final Los Angeles show on her "Eras Tour" to announce something Swifties everywhere had been awaiting a long time.
"There's something I've been planning for a really, really, really, ridiculously, embarrassingly long time. And instead of telling you about it, I think I'll just sort of show you," she said before the screen behind her revealed the cover art and release date for "1989 (Taylor's Version)," which will be released on October 27.
From her latest album "Midnights" to her re-recordings to her current tour, Swift is at the top of her game. The success of this tour is one of many reasons it needed to be documented and released as a concert film.
While Swift is a member of SAG-AFTRA, she was granted a waiver by the unions to release her "Eras Tour" concert film. The reason for the waiver is that the film is unscripted and has no actors or writers associated with it.
Taylor Went Beyond The Movie Studios In Order To Release And Distribute Her Film
In addition to receiving a waiver from the unions, Swift went over the heads of movie studios when it came to distributing her film.
Instead, the singer independently financed the film and made a distribution deal with the theaters themselves. This has reportedly made movie studios livid, as it disrupts their position of power, especially in the midst of the current strike.
Swift's film has also disrupted the release dates of several horror movies, as her film is released on October 13, which is a Friday. Universal’s The Exorcist: The Believer will now be released on October 6 instead. Paramount’s Killers of the Flower Moon will be released on October 20 and will be competing with Swift's film for IMAX screens.
And it looks like Swift's plan of attack has worked perfectly. The Eras Tour concert film quickly broke the AMC record for first-day presales. It grossed $26 million in the first 24 hours, beating Spider-Man: No Way Home.
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