Disney to Pay Over $75 Million for Exclusive Streaming Rights to Taylor Swift's The Eras Tour
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According to Puck News, Disney outbid both Netflix and Universal Pictures, who previously handled digital and video-on-demand distribution for the film. However, when approached for comment, Disney declined to confirm the details of the streaming deal, and Taylor Swift's representative has not yet responded.
"The Eras Tour," which premiered globally on October 13, achieved extraordinary success at the box office, earning an impressive $261.7 million worldwide. As the highest-grossing concert film to date, it captured performances from Swift's three Los Angeles shows held from August 3-5, 2023. However, the theatrical release excluded some songs from the performances.
This expanded version of "The Eras Tour" will exclusively debut on Disney+ on March 15. Excitingly, the streaming release will include five songs not included in previous versions of the movie. While Swift and Disney have not revealed the details of these bonus tracks, Variety speculates that they may include "Cardigan" from Swift's 2020 album "Folklore," along with four acoustic songs. These acoustic renditions are likely to be the "surprise songs" that Swift performed during her shows at L.A.'s SoFi Stadium, which were omitted from the initial cut. The speculated acoustic tracks are "Death by a Thousand Cuts," "Maroon," "You Are in Love," and "I Can See You."
Disney's decision to secure the exclusive streaming rights aligns with their ongoing efforts to expand their content library on Disney+. Bob Iger, Disney chief, expressed his confidence that audiences will thoroughly enjoy reliving the electrifying experience of "Taylor Swift: The Eras Tour" on the streaming platform.
In addition to the exclusive streaming agreement, the digital release of "Taylor Swift: The Eras Tour" was made available on Swift's birthday, December 13. This version, distributed by Universal, included additional bonus songs that were not shown in theaters, namely "Wildest Dreams," "The Archer," and "Long Live." These additions pushed the runtime of the film to an impressive 3 hours and 1 minute.
The world premiere of "Taylor Swift: The Eras Tour" concert movie was celebrated on October 11, 2023, at AMC The Grove 14 in Los Angeles.