All of AMC’s revenue growth came from Taylor Swift and Beyoncé films

Popcorn buckets are pictured during the “Taylor Swift: The Eras Tour” concert movie world premiere at AMC The Grove in Los Angeles on Oct. 11, 2023.

Valerie Macon | AFP | Getty Images

Move over Nicole Kidman. AMC has some new patron saints.

In the final three months of 2023, AMC saw revenue increase by 12% and operating profit by one measure nearly tripled compared with the same period a year before. “Literally all” that growth was tied to concert films from Taylor Swift and Beyoncé, AMC CEO Adam Aron told analysts Wednesday.

“These two movies added greatly, not only to AMC’s bottom line, but to movie theater success across our entire industry,” Aron said on the movie theater chain’s fourth-quarter earnings call. “Just these two films represented fully one-ninth of the complete fourth-quarter, domestic, industry-wide box office.”

AMC was behind “Taylor Swift: The Eras Tour” and “Renaissance: A Film by Beyoncé,” the first movie distributions in the company’s 103-year-old history. Those projects, both released in the final quarter of 2023, came near the end of a year culturally defined by the two pop stars’ tours.

U.S. market share for AMC, based outside Kansas City, expanded as a result of the two movies, Aron said. In the fourth quarter, AMC’s domestic box office receipts from the two releases alone beat out the distribution totals from most major studios, excluding Disney, he said.

Now, AMC’s phones are “ringing off the hook” as other artists look to the company to distribute filmed versions of their concerts in theaters in 2024 and 2025, he said.

“This is a stunning result, given that neither of these films were on anyone’s drawing board until midyear, and that they were the first movies ever distributed by AMC,” said Aron. “What a triumph for our company. To that end, it is no surprise that our praise for Taylor Swift and Beyoncé Knowles-Carter has no limit.”

A cultural and economic force

(L) Taylor Swift performs onstage during her The Eras Tour at Paycor Stadium in Cincinnati, Ohio, on June 30, 2023. (R) Beyoncé performs onstage during her Renaissance World Tour at the Johan Cruyff Arena in Amsterdam, Netherlands, on June 17, 2023.

Getty Images

AMC wasn’t the only company reporting a boost from the concerts and films this earnings season.

Competitor Cinemark said average ticket prices increased 2% and domestic concession stand revenue grew 8% compared with the same quarter a year ago. CFO Melissa Hayes Thomas credited that bump to Swift’s movie and related merchandise, as well as to strategic pricing initiatives.

Rideshare platform Lyft said it saw a 35% jump in rides to stadiums in 2023 compared to the year before. Lyft specifically mentioned Swift and Beyoncé concerts as key drivers, in addition to sporting events.

And Disney drew attention after CEO Bob Iger announced on its earnings call earlier this month that the movie studio’s streaming platform would exclusively house an extended version of Swift’s tour. “Taylor’s Version” of the film, referring to her re-recorded albums, hits Disney+ on March 15.

“Over the past year, we’ve all witnessed the creative genius and sheer power of a true cultural phenomenon, Taylor Swift,” Iger said on the call. Audiences are eager “to relive the electrifying ‘Taylor Swift: The Eras Tour (Taylor’s Version)’ whenever they want on Disney+.”

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