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Beyonce’s ‘Renaissance’ concert film has a slow opening weekend, especially for a post-Thanksgiving weekend release.
AMC’s second concert film, “Renaissance: A Film by Beyonce,” has a noticeably slower opening weekend than its first, Taylor Swift’s record-breaking Eras Tour film, with a $20 million projection. While Swift’s film’s $92.8 million domestic ($123 million global) opening is tough to beat in the best of circumstances, $20 million is a concerningly low number for a post-Thanksgiving weekend debut.
That said, Renaissance has more of a documentary-style presentation than Swift’s Eras Tour, which is intentionally presented as an in-theater concertgoing experience. From the get-go, distribution sources indicated Renaissance would not pull Eras Tour type numbers during its opening weekend, even with the tour itself grossing close to $600 million, according to Live Nation.
The first-day presales echoed that prediction, with around $6-$7 million compared to Swift’s $37 million. But Swift’s core demographic skews younger than Beyonce’s — undoubtedly, there have been fewer Beyonce fans gearing up to go see her concert film the week after Thanksgiving when many are busy with family obligations. That wasn’t a concern for Swifties who flocked to see the Eras film after the US leg of her tour ended this summer.
Directed by Beyonce, James B. Merryman, and Mark Ritchie, Renaissance captures the opening show of the superstar’s tour in Stockholm, Sweden, to the grand finale in Kansas City, Missouri.
AMC’s Adam Aron announced in an earnings call last week that the theater chain was making a pretty penny from Swift’s Eras Tour film — but exact numbers remain undisclosed until the end of the year, as both it and Beyonce’s Renaissance film fall under Q4. The company “will definitely” be leaning into concert films next year and 2025, with eyes on more for the future.
Aron reports that “the phone has been ringing off the hook since we announced” the Eras Tour release, and that “a significant number of the world’s best artists” would like to explore the possibility of an AMC concert film release.
