Disney has announced that Disney Plus is set to be the exclusive streaming home for Taylor Swift's The Eras Tour.
As announced by Disney CEO Bob Iger during the The Walt Disney Company's Q1 2024 earnings call, Taylor Swift – The Eras Tour (Taylor's Version) will debut on Disney Plus on March 15. This marks the first time it'll be viewable in full on a major streaming platform.
"The Eras Tour has been a true phenomenon that has and continues to thrill fans around the world," Iger said. "And we are very excited to bring this electrifying concert to audiences wherever they are, exclusively on Disney Plus."
The movie made over $260 million (per Box Office Mojo) in ticket sales during its theatrical run in late 2023 – a stunning box office performance that made it the best-selling concert film ever. The Era Tour's big-screen showing also eclipsed the income on big-name movies including Disney's own animated film Wish, Sony Pictures and Apple's historical epic Napoleon, and The Marvels, one of two Marvel Phase 5 theatrical duds of the past 12 months.
It's unclear how much money Swift, who recently became the first musician to win four Album of the Year Grammy awards in a row, will make from her partnership with Disney. The pop megastar, though, will surely add to the one billion-plus dollar haul that The Eras Tour has raked in so far – per The Associated Press, Swift's latest concert run has bagged her a whopping $1.04 billion in ticket sales alone. Add in the $261 million she made from its silver-screen showing, and Swift is $1.3 billion richer than she was 12 months ago.
For fans who have already seen The Eras Tour in-person and/or in their local multiplex, the Disney Plus version has bonus content that's sure to attract diehard Swifties. Indeed, one of the world's best streaming services has confirmed that there will be five additional songs to enjoy with The Eras Tour (Taylor's Version), including 2020 hit 'Cardigan', which weren't featured in the concert film, nor in its earlier video-on-demand release on the likes of Prime Video and YouTube. Based on its popularity, I think we'll be making an exception to include The Eras Tour on our best Disney Plus movies list.
Sing when you're winning
Just Announced (Taylor’s Version) pic.twitter.com/bfmS5s2Y1wFebruary 7, 2024
The Eras Tour's forthcoming release on Disney Plus will continue the trend of live concerts making their way onto the streaming giant's back catalog.
At the time of writing, there are a number of concert films that are worth streaming on the platform, including Elton John Live: Farewell From Dodger Stadium, which made history when it was livestreamed exclusively on Disney Plus in late 2023. Pop rockers Imagine Dragons, wildly successful K-pop troupe Blackpink, and multi-award-winning superstar Billie Eilish are three other hugely popular music acts who've entertained the streamer's userbase with recordings of live shows, too.
As Max and Apple TV Plus lean into delivering prestige TV to their fanbases, and Netflix slowly expands its offering of sports-based content, then, Disney Plus needs to find its own niche collection of projects to bring to the table.
In my view, growing its live concert offering with pop sensations like Taylor Swift is only going to benefit its cause. If it can continue to show the world's biggest artists that it's the best streamer to showcase such such projects, they're more likely to partner with Disney Plus than its streaming rivals, thereby bolstering its live concert ranks further and enticing new users to sign up – and given that Disney Plus confirmed it lost over one million users in Q1 2024, it needs all the help it can get to turn its fortunes around.
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