Taylor Swift made $111 million from The Eras Tour movie’s opening weekend

All hail the new box office queen. Taylor Swift’s unconventional approach with her Eras tour movie has already paid off big time for the pop superstar.

How taking an unconventional approach has once again paid off big time for the golden girl of pop. Picture: Suzanne Cordeiro/AFP.

The Midas touch of golden girl Taylor Swift continues, with the pop star making a staggering US$70.4 million (A$111 million) from the opening weekend of her Eras tour movie.

The Eras Tour film, which documents Swift’s sold-out stadium tour, opened in the US and in 90 countries globally – including Australia – last weekend, despite only being announced mere weeks ago.

It recorded total box office takings of US$92.8 million (A$146 million) in North America and US$30.7 million (A$49 million) internationally, bringing its first weekend tally to a massive US$123.5 million (A$195 million) globally.

Swift self-produced the movie, earning her a 57 per cent cut of all box office takings – or A$111 million – according to US show business bible, Variety.

Rather than making the film via a major studio, she partnered directly with AMC Theatres, a US-based cinema chain which also happens to be the world’s largest.

Profits from the film will be split between Swift, AMC and the theatres screening it.

The huge opening weekend was the highest-ever for a concert film, surpassing Justin Bieber’s 2011 Never Say Never concert film, which took US$73 million (A$115 million) over its entire run.

By the end of its run it’s predicted The Eras Tour film will overtake Michael Jackson’s 2009 concert film, This Is It which grossed US$261 million (A$412 million).

If it hits that level, Swift stands to make A$235 million from the film.

Self-producing the film was not the only thing Swift – who is known for doing things her own way – did differently.

In the US, ticket prices were set at US$19.89 for adults, a reference to her birth year and 2014 album and US$13.13, for her lucky number, for children and seniors.

That’s significantly more expensive than standard US movie ticket prices of around US$8 for an adult ticket and US$6-7 for a concession, but a price cinemagoers were more than prepared to pay, given it’s well below the cost of a ticket to her live show.

The Eras Tour is also only screening on Thursdays, Fridays, Saturdays and Sundays, in order to fill each session and create a live concert atmosphere, with Swift encouraging the audience to sing along, dance and film the atmosphere on their phones.

The film runs for 2 hours and 45-minutes compared to the live show’s 3 hours and 15-minutes, and features footage from Swift’s shows at southern California’s SoFi Stadium.

Beyonce has a similar concert movie hitting US cinemas later this year. Picture: John Shearer/Getty Images for TAS.

Pop superstar Beyonce referred to Swift as a “guiding light” when she joined Swift at the film’s premiere.

Beyonce has made a similar deal with AMC for her upcoming film, Renaissance: A Film By Beyonce, which opens in the US in December.

An Australian release date for the film has not been revealed.

Originally published as Taylor Swift made $111 million from The Eras Tour movie’s opening weekend