\n<\/p>\n
As she greeted the audience at the premiere of her new movie, Taylor Swift sounded a bit sheepish.<\/p>\n
\u201cYou\u2019re stuck with me, because I\u2019m going to sit with you and watch this thing,\u201d she told the crowd at the packed premiere of \u201cTaylor Swift: The Eras Tour,\u201d held at the sprawling Grove shopping complex on Wednesday night. Well, one<\/em> of the crowds, anyway: Thirteen of the theaters at the Grove\u2019s AMC multiplex were filled with eager fans, and Swift stopped by all of them to give a special introduction, eventually settling into an auditorium\u2019s audience that included stars like Adam Sandler and Julia Garner.<\/p>\n Regular moviegoers can only hope that an apologetic Swift shows up for more house calls as her concert documentary makes its way into theaters this week. Though it was originally set for release on Friday, Swift just announced that the film will begin screening one day<\/a> early because of fan demand.<\/p>\n Still, even if they can\u2019t watch \u201cThe Eras Tour\u201d alongside the singer herself \u2014 who came to the premiere in a pale blue Oscar de la Renta gown and danced in her seat for most of its running time \u2014 the movie is poised to deliver in a major way.<\/p>\n For theatrical exhibitors, whose business has been in jeopardy since the actors strike scuttled plans<\/a> to release tentpole movies like \u201cDune\u201d this fall, \u201cThe Eras Tour\u201d is being likened to the second coming of Barbenheimer<\/a>: It\u2019s got the grab-your-besties-and-go appeal of \u201cBarbie,\u201d the shock-and-awe soundscape of \u201cOppenheimer\u201d and the box-office tracking to rival them both. Bullish film analysts expect an opening weekend between $150 to $200 million, meaning \u201cThe Eras Tour\u201d has a shot at taking this year\u2019s box-office tiara from \u201cBarbie,\u201d which notched a $162 million debut.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n In the meantime, here are four of the takeaways from the premiere.<\/p>\n If fans are looking for insight into how Swift put her show together, or what was going on in her life behind the scenes, they won\u2019t find it in \u201cThe Eras Tour\u201d: There is no additional embroidering in this concert documentary, which was culled from Swift\u2019s six-night August stint at the SoFi stadium in Inglewood, a suburb of Los Angeles. For those who caught one of the 53 shows Swift played in North American this past year, or for the fans hoping to see Swift in her remaining American dates (an international tour begins in February), this film is more or less the same thing as buying a concert ticket.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n There\u2019s one crucial difference, of course: No stadium seat could offer as close a look at Swift\u2019s performance as this documentary, which is vigorously shot and directed by Sam Wrench. And since the 33-year-old singer designed \u201cThe Eras Tour\u201d as a journey through the shifting musical genres of her past 10 albums \u2014 from the country-pop \u201cFearless\u201d all the way up to the recent, stripped-down records \u201cFolklore,\u201d \u201cEvermore\u201d and \u201cMidnights\u201d \u2014 this film is the closest thing that exists to a definitive document of one of the world\u2019s biggest performers.<\/p>\n In that way, it\u2019s perfect viewing for newcomers and superfans alike: Curious people who were unwilling to shell out for tour prices can now check out Swift at a reduced rate, while Swifties who\u2019ve already attended the concert can relive it in a compelling close-up. My teenage niece, who went to one of the SoFi shows, accompanied me to the premiere and was thrilled by the better look at Swift\u2019s facial expressions and choreography. I noticed that hardly a song goes by without some big smiles from Swift and her backup singers: There\u2019s enough joy on these faces to power entire blocks of Barbie Land.<\/p>\n \u201cThe Eras Tour\u201d runs a robust two hours and forty-eight minutes, and though that\u2019s nearly as long as \u201cOppenheimer,\u201d Swift\u2019s real-life concerts during this tour were even more mammoth, typically clocking in just shy of three and a half hours. Do fans have reason to fear there have been major cuts to the set list?<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n By my count, only a handful of her regular songs go missing on the way to the big screen, including \u201cThe Archer,\u201d \u201cCardigan,\u201d \u201cWildest Dreams,\u201d and \u201cno body no crime,\u201d which Swift performed at SoFi with the band Haim.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n Still, fans will get plenty of bang for their buck, since Swift performs nearly 40 songs during the movie, including a 10-minute version of \u201cAll Too Well\u201d and two other bonus tunes, \u201cOur Song\u201d and \u201cYou\u2019re On Your Own, Kid,\u201d that Swift plucked from a rotating selection of surprise songs during her tour. And another trim is sure to be appreciated: Swift now moves between the different eras and costume changes in the blink of an eye onscreen, eliding all the time those segues took onstage.<\/p>\n Blockbuster premieres have been hard to come by since the actors strike began, and an eclectic cross-section of celebrities turned out for the \u201cEras Tour\u201d premiere, including Sandler, Mariska Hargitay and the singers Maren Morris and Hayley Kiyoko. Fashion choices ran the gamut from silver sequins to cowgirl fringe, and Alex Atallah, a co-founder of the NFT marketplace OpenSea, entered the theater lobby sporting the colorful, tie-dyed \u201cI Am Kenough\u201d hoodie<\/a> seen on Ryan Gosling in \u201cBarbie.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cI have very few shirts with this many pastel colors,\u201d Atallah told me before posing for a photo with the \u201cBarbie\u201d co-star Simu Liu.<\/p>\n Nearby, I caught Flavor Flav deep in conversation with Swift\u2019s father, Scott. Though they made for an unlikely duo, the 64-year-old rap icon is no fly-by-night fan: He said that he\u2019d seen the \u201cawesome\u201d Swift on two previous tours.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n \u201cI\u2019ve been a Swiftie for the longest, bro,\u201d Flav insisted.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n But Swift\u2019s biggest invite was reserved for another A-lister (and no, it wasn\u2019t her new beau Travis Kelce, busy with a football game the next day): Before the premiere began, Swift dined and posed for pictures with Beyonc\u00e9, who has her own concert movie \u201cRenaissance: A Film By Beyonc\u00e9\u201d due for release on Dec. 1. Like \u201cThe Eras Tour,\u201d Beyonc\u00e9\u2019s film bypassed traditional Hollywood studios and will be distributed by AMC Theaters.<\/p>\n Though she\u2019s a superstar in the music industry, Swift\u2019s forays into film haven\u2019t been as well-received. Her last three movie credits as an actress include the minor young-adult drama \u201cThe Giver,\u201d the memorably cataclysmic adaptation of \u201cCats,\u201d and last year\u2019s David O. Russell-directed \u201cAmsterdam,\u201d which coaxed Swift to pop in for a quick cameo and then promptly ran her over<\/a>.<\/p>\n Unlike Lady Gaga, who has lately toggled between music and movies in equal measure, Swift has treated Hollywood as more of a side hustle, only committing to the occasional supporting role. But last year, after she signed a deal with Searchlight to write and direct an upcoming original film, eyebrows were raised all over town: Was Swift ready to take her movie career a bit more seriously?<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n It remains to be seen whether Swift will star in her feature directorial debut, but \u201cThe Eras Tour\u201d still supplies her with some much-needed big-screen juice. A fun presence in her biggest numbers, like the bouncy \u201cShake It Off\u201d and rocking \u201cLook What You Made Me Do,\u201d Swift is even more appealing in acoustic numbers that trade busy choreography for simple guitar playing. And in the centerpiece song \u201cTolerate It,\u201d she shows acting chops during a well-choreographed routine about a dinner date gone wrong: It begins with her beseeching an inexpressive lover and ends with her swatting a vase of roses off the table.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n Her real talent, though, is selling humility with a megawatt charisma that few celebrities can muster. Introducing one song, Swift insists she had to invent an outsized version of herself in order to write it: \u201cIn my fantasy, I\u2019m not a lonely millennial woman covered in cat hair,\u201d the singer says, even though she\u2019s spent the whole film looking impossibly glamorous in sky-high Christian Louboutin heels<\/p>\n And yet, you\u2019re still tempted to believe her. What is that, if not a movie star?<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\nExpect no extras, though you\u2019ll get a front-row seat<\/h2>\n
Only a few songs get snipped<\/h2>\n
In Hollywood, everyone is a Swiftie<\/h2>\n
Finally, Swift will enjoy some big-screen success<\/h2>\n