Mad love wasn’t the only emotion some Taylor Swift fans were feeling after the music superstar’s Eras Tour concert film opened in theaters over the weekend.
Taylor Swift: The Eras Tour, which is already the top-grossing concert film of all time domestically, spurred social media debate over the weekend surrounding etiquette for moviegoers. Among the viral posts on the topic was a video shared to X (formerly Twitter) showing footage of Swift performing the song “Marjorie” as attendees in the movie theater sing, shine their phone flashlights from the seats and dance in between the screen and the front row.
“I’m at the worst screening ever,” the original poster captioned the video. “Cant even hear taylor.”
A different user posted to X that they had trouble hearing Swift at all in the screening they attended and added, “People were soo disrespectful like there were some that actually were kicked out of the room [because] they were being soo rude. They completely ruined a lot of [people’s] experience there.”
A third individual posted on the platform that moviegoers would be well-advised to expect a concert-like experience. “Because as a theater experience, it’s horrible,” the user wrote. “Expect dancing, standing up in chairs, screaming & singing along. She made this for her hardcore fans.”
Naturally, there were also plenty of social media posts noting that film viewers — particularly those who were unable to snag the pricey tickets to the live concert itself — should be encouraged to see the project as an interactive experience and that this enhances the movie.
Among the arguments from those who appreciated the opportunity to interact with the film was the fact that Swift herself posted about the movie on Instagram in late August with a line in the caption that read, “Eras attire, friendship bracelets, singing and dancing encouraged.”
In a previous statement regarding guidelines for attendance, distributor AMC Theatres noted, “We encourage dancing and singing throughout this concert film event, but please do not dance on our seats or block other guests from viewing, safely walking or exiting the auditorium.”
Prior to the film’s release, Morning Consult brand analyst Ellyn Briggs likened the marketing for the Eras Tour movie to the way that Warner Bros. was similarly able to make buying a ticket to its summer blockbuster Barbie feel like an event. “It wasn’t just a one-evening event,” Briggs told The Hollywood Reporter. “It was, ‘Let’s plan cute outfits, make friendship bracelets, go together.’”
Eras Tour, which was released by AMC Theatres in lieu of a traditional studio, collected $92.8 million from 3,850 theaters in North America, with a global sum of $123.5 million for the weekend. This marks the second-biggest October opening weekend of all time, behind 2019’s Oscar-winning Joker.
