Christopher Nolan Praises How Taylor Swift Released Her Eras Tour Movie: 'Incredibly Valuable'

Christopher Nolan said Taylor Swift's 'The Eras Tour' concert movie would 'make an enormous amount of money' before it opened to $92.8 million at the box office

Christopher Nolan Says Hollywood Studios Missed Out by Not Releasing Taylor Swift’s Eras Tour
Christopher Nolan and Taylor Swift. Photo:

Pascal Le Segretain/Getty; Matt Winkelmeyer/Getty 

Christopher Nolan is giving props to Taylor Swift!

Nolan, 53, recently complimented Swift, 33, for bypassing studios to work directly with AMC Theatres to distribute The Eras Tour concert film, per The Hollywood Reporter.

“Taylor Swift is about to show the studios, because her concert film is not being distributed by the studios, it’s being distributed by a theater owner, AMC, and it’s going to make an enormous amount of money,” Nolan said, as he spoke during an Oct. 11 talk at the City University of New York, as reported by the outlet. The interview was conducted before the film opened to record-shattering numbers on Oct. 13.

“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," the Oppenheimer filmmaker added. "And if they don’t want it, somebody else will. So that’s just the truth of it."

Nolan, whose recent movie centered around the life of Manhattan Project physicist Robert J. Oppenheimer, appeared alongside his wife and producing partner Emma Thomas at the event. An official CUNY description of the event described it as a conversation with Kai Bird, the author who wrote the biography Oppenheimer is based on, American Prometheus, as the group spoke to "the challenges of turning complicated history into film."

Taylor Swift attends the "Taylor Swift: The Eras Tour" Concert Movie World Premiere at AMC The Grove
Taylor Swift on Oct. 11, 2023.

John Shearer/Getty

“Any time a film succeeds that isn’t expected to succeed, it’s an encouraging thing for Hollywood.… It’s encouraging for filmmakers,” Nolan said during the event, per THR. “There’s always the tension in Hollywood between the familiar and what is predicted to make money, and that’s the meat and potatoes of how the studios stay in business, but there’s always this desire [among] audiences for something new, something fresh.”

Nolan's three-hours-long Oppenheimer made a mark on Hollywood as it grew into the highest-grossing biopic ever since its July release. Meanwhile, Swift's Eras Tour film made $92.8 million at the box office after its release last Friday, dominating the domestic box office and instantly becoming the highest-grossing debut ever for a concert film, per AMC Theatres.

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Christopher Nolan and Emma Thomas attend a special screening of OPPENHEIMER presented by the Filmmakers to celebrate the contributions of the film's crew and craftspeople at the AMC Lincoln Square on July 17, 2023 in New York City.
Christopher Nolan and Emma Thomas on July 17, 2023.

Kevin Mazur/Getty

“Any time a film that isn’t expected to succeed, and we vastly exceeded our highest expectations for the project [Oppenheimer], it’s encouraging everyone," Nolan said during the recent CUNY talk. "It’s encouraging for the studios and the filmmakers. That tension, that reality…between commerce and art, that formula never changes in Hollywood, because it’s just a reality of the industrial process. Films are very expensive to make.”

Taylor Swift: The Eras Tour is now playing in theaters.

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