Beyoncé was a very rich woman prior to December 1 and the opening of her concert film Renaissance: A Film By Beyoncé (which she wrote, produced, and directed)—but, though the Renaissance World Tour is over and has been for a couple of months, the multihyphenate continues to profit from it (as well she should). On its opening day alone, Renaissance grossed $11.5 million, Variety reports, putting her at No. 1 at the box office this weekend.
The film is currently showing in 2,539 locations, the outlet reports, and, in addition to Friday’s $11.5 million, its Thursday previews produced a strong additional $5.1 million. “Putting that next to the massive October debut of Taylor Swift: The Eras Tour, it’s shaping up to be the first year on record that two concert documentaries have opened at the top of domestic charts,” Variety reports. (While it’s not a competition, just for context, Swift’s film opened at $92 million and has now surpassed $250 million worldwide, showing the power of these two women to resurrect—or some might say truly bring to the fore in the first place—the genre of the concert film.)
Current projections place Renaissance’s opening weekend gross around $21 or 22 million (per Deadline), “an impressive figure for a concert doc,” Variety writes. Like The Eras Tour, Renaissance is being “distributed by AMC Theatres in a deal brokered between the headliner musician and the exhibitor—meaning both parties get to pocket a higher percentage of grosses than they would’ve had a major studio been sought out to handle rollout,” Variety reports. Said differently? Drinks are on Taylor and Beyoncé tonight.
In addition to its commercial success, Renaissance’s Cinema Score grade—determined by polling the first round of moviegoers—currently sits at a perfect “A+” (go BeyHive!) and reviews have been universally positive, Variety continues. The movie is nearly three hours long, so Bey’s fans are getting what they came for. But opening weekend isn’t where the cash flow ends: “There’s speculation that Renaissance could show a strong multiplier in the coming weeks, as audiences who aren’t in a rush could continue to discover it through the holiday season,” Variety writes. Good point.
Speaking of the aforementioned AMC Theatres: the chain has issued guidelines for headwear and wings that audience members can wear, The Hollywood Reporter writes, telling moviegoers that, while encouraged to honor Beyoncé through their outfits, “to remove any garb that could obscure the view for other patrons during the movie.” One can’t help but smile at the power (and uniqueness) of the BeyHive. “You know the words, you know the choreography,” AMC said in a statement. “Sing and dance your heart out, but please respect each other’s space along with the theatre equipment.”
Add this to the gross of the Renaissance World Tour itself ($579.8 million), and we’ll call it a really good 2023 for Queen Bey.
