Christopher Nolan is a huge fan of theatrical releases and Taylor Swift‘s business model for her film, The Eras Tour.
Nolan engaged in a discussion with fellow filmmaker Emma Thomas and Pulitzer Prize–winning American Prometheus author Kai Bird about Oppenheimer at the CUNY Graduate Center. In the course of their conversation, he pointed to Swift’s decision to release The Eras Tour documentary as a step forward for content distribution strategies.
“Taylor Swift is about to show the studios, because her concert film is not being distributed by the studios. It’s being distributed by the theater owner, AMC, and it’s going to make an enormous amount of money,” Nolan said. “And this is the thing, this is a format, this is a way of seeing things and sharing stories, or sharing experiences that’s incredibly valuable. And if they [the studios] don’t want it, somebody else will. So that’s just the truth of it.”
Swift’s film of her tour will see her get a 57% cut on a $19.89 ticket, revenue that normally would go to a distributor. The film grossed approximately $125 million at the worldwide box office after opening weekend.
