After opening in China, the film’s total box office receipts hit $261.6 million, eking past Michael Jackson’s posthumous This Is It
As a counterweight to snubs and bad jokes at the Golden Globes last night, Taylor Swift at least has reason to celebrate her Eras Tour movie becoming the highest-grossing concert film and documentary ever.
In a press release, AMC Theaters said Taylor Swift: The Eras Tour has now raked in over $261.6 million globally, just putting it past the previous record holder, Michael Jackson’s This Is It. That film was released in 2009, just a few months after Jackson’s death, and grossed $261.2 million.
The Eras Tour movie was always likely to achieve this feat. It became the top-grossing concert film in America the week it opened back in October, grossing around $97 million. That immediately put it past previous domestic champs, Justin Bieber’s Never Say Never, with $73 million, and This Is It at $72 million.
While the domestic box office domination for The Eras Tour movie provided the foundation, it was the film’s solid international performance that helped make it the biggest concert film/doc ever. The film finally opened in China on Dec. 31, and the $8.7 million it earned there was enough to push it past Jackson on the record-holders list.
In recognition of the wild success of The Eras Tour, the documentary earned a nomination for the Golden Globes’ new Cinematic and Box Office Achievement prize. Swift was on hand at the show last night, though the film ended up losing to Barbie. (To add insult to injury, she also had to endure a very rough joke from host Jo Koy about her boyfriend Travis Kielce and the NFL.)
Swift is set to resume the Eras Tour in February with a run of shows in Asia and Australia, followed by a European and U.K. that starts in May and runs through the summer. She’ll then close the record-breaking trek out for good with one more slate of shows in the U.S. and Canada in October and November.
