\n<\/p>\n
\n\tTaylor Swift\u2018s Life of a Showgirl<\/em> special theatrical event is rocking at the domestic box office, where it\u2019s headed for a first-place finish with a weekend haul of at least $28 million to $32 million from 3,702 theaters, according to estimates from Swift\u2019s team and partner AMC Theatres. Rival distributors, however, have it earning north of $35 million.<\/p>\n \n\tWhatever the outcome, those numbers are in sharp contrast to ticket sales for the Dwayne Johnson-led wrestling drama The Smashing Machine<\/em>, which is bombing in its domestic debut. Playing in 3,345 theaters, the A24 release earned $2.7 million on Friday for a projected weekend opening of $6 million, versus the $12 million to $14 million it was expected to earn.<\/p>\n \n\tThe movie \u2014 an awards vehicle for Johnson \u2014 is looking at a third-place finish behind Showgirl<\/em> and holdover One Battle After Another<\/em> after getting slapped with a B- CinemaScore from audiences. (Critics have been more kind; it\u2019s current score on Rotten Tomatoes is an okay 77 percent.)<\/p>\n \n\tConversely, Taylor Swift: The Official Release Party of a Showgirl<\/em> earned a coveted A+ CinemaScore from her fans, just as her history-making concert film Eras Tour<\/em> did. Nearly 90 percent of Friday\u2019s moviegoers were female.<\/p>\n \n\tSwift\u2019s team went to great lengths to keep the Showgirl<\/em> project top secret until the 11th hour (they almost succeeded, but not quite), much to the chagrin of other distributors who don\u2019t like last-minute surprises. She announced the Oct. 3-5 special event on Sept. 19 in a well-orchestrated social media post informing fans that advance tickets would go sale that day at 12:12 local time for $12, in keeping with Swift\u2019s longtime relationship with numbers (Showgirl<\/em> is her 12th studio album). Consumers can expect to pay notably more than $12 for premium large format screenings.<\/p>\n \n\t Showgirl<\/em>, playing in theaters for only three days, can best be described as a series of lyric videos for tracks on her new album, music videos and behind-the-scenes footage. And it\u2019s anchored by the world premiere of the music video for\u00a0Showgirl\u00a0<\/em>single \u201cThe Fate of Ophelia,\u201d which she directed. <\/em><\/p>\n \n\tIn 2023, The Eras Tour<\/em> concert pic catapulted Swift to box office fame when it opened to a huge $93.2 million domestically on its way to becoming the top-grossing concert film of all time with $261.6 million in global ticket sales. The superstar and her team financed the $15 million project, bypassing the Hollywood studio system in partnering with\u00a0AMC Theatres to distribute the film. AMC Theatres Distribution is likewise releasing\u00a0Showgirl<\/em>\u00a0in partnership with Variance Films in the U.S. and Canada, and with Piece of Magic Entertainment in other international markets.<\/p>\n \n\tAccording to THR<\/em>\u2018s review of Showgirl<\/em>, \u201cThe 89-minute cinematic experience \u2014 neither visual album nor concert film, and not quite a documentary \u2014 is strictly for the diehards. But while there\u2019s something to be said for the communal experience of absorbing an album surrounded by dozens of like-minded fans, what\u2019s actually being served up on screen is more filler than killer.\u201d<\/p>\n \n\tDirected by Benny Safdie, Smashing Machine<\/em> reunites Johnson with his Jungle Cruise<\/em> co-star and good friend Emily Blunt, who played a key role in bringing Johnson and Safdie together. The film is based on the real-life story of Mark Kerr, a former college wrestler who battled trauma and an addiction to painkillers during the early years of the UFC. It marks Johnson\u2019s first time making a play in the awards space.<\/p>\n \n\tAnother weekend offering is James Cameron\u2019s Avatar: The Way of Water<\/em>, which is being rereleased exclusively in 3D. Like Swift\u2019s team, Cameron and partner 20th Century\/Disney are using the box office for promotional purposes: this Christmas, Avatar: Ash and Fire<\/em> opens.<\/p>\n \n\tThe movie will be playing in 90 percent of all Imax auditoriums domestically, but will have to share Dolby Cinema screens and other premium large-format auditoriums. Way of Water<\/em> is projected to earn $2 million to $3 million domestically from 2,100 theaters.<\/p>\n \n\tMore to come<\/em>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Taylor Swift\u2018s Life of a Showgirl special theatrical event is rocking at the domestic box office, where it\u2019s headed for a first-place finish with a weekend haul of at least $28 million to $32 million from 3,702 theaters, according to estimates from Swift\u2019s team and partner AMC Theatres. Rival distributors, however, have it earning north<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":25879,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[54],"tags":[1332,1922,1171,1008,12558,666,9589,9025,3611],"class_list":{"0":"post-25878","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-entertainment","8":"tag-bombs","9":"tag-box","10":"tag-film","11":"tag-office","12":"tag-rocks","13":"tag-rules","14":"tag-showgirl","15":"tag-swifts","16":"tag-taylor"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/naijaglobalnews.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/25878","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/naijaglobalnews.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/naijaglobalnews.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/naijaglobalnews.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/naijaglobalnews.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=25878"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/naijaglobalnews.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/25878\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/naijaglobalnews.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/25879"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/naijaglobalnews.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=25878"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/naijaglobalnews.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=25878"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/naijaglobalnews.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=25878"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}