Why Disney Was Smart To Pay $75 Million for Taylor Swift’s Eras Tour Movie
Disney has dropped some major news over the past week, from reopening restaurants to huge theme park investments. However, the most exciting news to me (and millions of others) is definitely that Taylor Swift’s concert movie is coming soon to Disney+!
Photo: Disney+
Yep, in case you missed it, Taylor Swift: The Eras Tour (Taylor’s Version) will stream exclusively on Disney+ starting March 15th. And now, we have even more details about what it took for Disney to secure this deal, and why it matters.
The Eras Tour Movie Price Tag
It has been revealed that Disney paid more than $75 million to get the rights to exclusively stream The Eras Tour movie on Disney+, according to Variety. Disney apparently outbid both Netflix and Universal Pictures.
Photo: Taylor Swift
This is notable since Universal was the one that handled the digital distribution of the movie when it became available to rent in December.
Photo: IMDb
You might be thinking that $75 million is a very high price for this movie, but when you consider how much money this could make Disney, it’s really not. We’ve seen how high the demand is for Taylor’s concert tickets, merchandise, and more, so if Disney+ gets a few million more people to subscribe due to the movie, they’re turning a profit sooner rather than later.
Photo: Taylor Swift
The movie itself made over $261 million at the box office, which made it the highest-grossing concert film ever. And, we’re sure you’ve heard, but the demand for tickets to The Eras Tour and those resale ticket prices prove that Swifties will show up for Taylor.
Photo: Taylor Swift
Taylor Swift is probably more popular right now than she’s ever been, which is really saying something.
Photo: Taylor Swift
She just became the first artist EVER to win Album of the Year at the Grammys four times, she was named Time’s Person of the Year in 2023, she is currently on the highest grossing tour ever (crossing over the $1 billion mark)…
Photo: Taylor Swift
….and she’s even been the reason thousands of new viewers are tuning into Kansas City Chiefs games. Oh! And she just announced her 11th album — The Tortured Poet’s Department (out April 19th!).
Photo: Taylor Swift
So yeah, Disney spending over $75 million to exclusively have her movie on their streaming service can only be classified as good for business.
What is Taylor Swift: The Eras Tour (Taylor’s Version)?
Let’s dive a little deeper into how this version of the movie is different from the others, and why people will stream it.
Photo: Taylor Swift
So why would people who have already paid to see the actual concert, the concert movie in theaters, or rent the movie digitally be willing to watch it again on Disney+? Well, Taylor and her team are very smart, which is why there have been different versions of this movie released to ensure people keep coming back for more.
Photo: Taylor Swift
Not to mention, if you’re like me and went to see the actual concert before Speak Now (Taylor’s Version) was released in July, you didn’t have one very important song on your set list that is now in the movie. “I said remember this moment…”
Photo: Taylor Swift
The movie streaming on Disney+ is basically a super-extended version. The film shown in theaters excluded the songs ‘The Archer,’ ‘no body, no crime,’ ‘Long Live,’ ‘cardigan,’ and ‘Wildest Dreams,’ which were on the concert’s usual setlist when it was filmed.
Photo: Taylor Swift
When it was released digitally for fans to rent, ‘The Archer,’ ‘Long Live,’ and ‘Wildest Dreams’ were included and it was called Taylor Swift: The Eras Tour (Extended Version).
Photo: Taylor Swift
The version of the movie being released on Disney+, Taylor Swift: The Eras Tour (Taylor’s Version), will now also include ‘cardigan’ and four additional surprise songs.
Photo: Taylor Swift
Taylor performs two surprise songs per show — one on the acoustic guitar and one on the piano. This is one of the most anticipated parts of the show because we never know which songs Taylor is going to sing, and it’s very fun to guess!
Photo: Taylor Swift
Although, it can be bittersweet to see her perform one of your favorite songs, especially if you JUST missed the show she performed it at (for example, when Taylor played one of my favorite songs ever, ‘I Bet You Think About Me,’ the show RIGHT after mine in Atlanta). But I digress!
Photo: Taylor Swift
The point is that these songs are extra special because it is just Taylor and the crowd — she is not accompanied by her band, backup singers, or dancers. She will usually give a short, sometimes personal speech during this section of the show as well.
Photo: Taylor Swift || Sometimes she has special guests during this section!
Taylor’s concert movie was filmed over the first three nights in Los Angeles back in August, so there were six surprise songs to choose from for the movie. Both versions of the movie showed ‘Our Song’ on the guitar and ‘You’re on Your Own, Kid’ on the piano. But now, it’s been shared that four additional surprise songs are being added to Taylor’s Version of the movie on Disney+!
Photo: Taylor Swift
No one has confirmed if they are indeed the surprise songs from the other L.A. shows that were filmed, but that would make the most sense. If those are included, we’ll get to see ‘I Can See You’ from the album Speak Now (Taylor’s Version), ‘Maroon’ from Midnights, ‘You Are In Love’ from 1989, and ‘Death by a Thousand Cuts’ from Lover.
Photo: Taylor Swift
But, Taylor loves to keep us on our toes, so who knows! Maybe we’ll get a surprise song from a different show that we didn’t even know was being filmed, like when she performed ‘evermore’ on the piano in Cincinnati (please, Taylor, add this one in!).
Photo: Taylor Swift
The Extended Version of the film came in at just over 3 hours, so Taylor’s Version on Disney+ should be even longer!
Photo: Taylor Swift
Another option I think would be really cool is if this is a choose-your-own-adventure kind of movie, where we get to pick which two surprise songs are in the version we stream. There’s no indication that this is happening, but never say never.
Photo: Taylor Swift
So, the only song left out of this new version of the film is ‘no body, no crime.’ I personally love this song and would love to see it, but it’s performed alongside HAIM during the show, so I can get why they would exclude it to keep the entire movie to just performances by Taylor.
Photo: Taylor Swift
It’s also important to note that ’tis the damn season’ was replaced on the setlist by ‘no body, no crime’ during the L.A. shows, so it was not filmed, and therefore not included in the movie (another loss, but we will persist).
Photo: Taylor Swift
All this to say, Swifties (myself included) will be streaming this movie when it hits Disney+. I saw the movie in theaters, and then I personally didn’t want to spend $19.89 to rent it for only 48 hours when that became an option, so, being a Disney+ subscriber, this is the perfect opportunity for me to watch the movie again and show it to my family!
Photo: Taylor Swift
Not having a time limit on watching the movie is a huge plus since it’s several hours long. Being able to break it up between a few days is very beneficial to people with families like mine who fall asleep on the couch after about an hour of watching TV.
Photo: Taylor Swift
And, signing up for a Disney+ subscription in order to see the movie even makes more sense financially than renting it. One reason is not having a time limit and being able to watch it over and over, and the other is that you also get access to ALL of Disney+’s content instead of just one movie.
Photo: Taylor Swift
So, I will be seated on my couch in my cardigan on March 15th ready to relive the best concert I’ve ever seen. And, being able to share that magic with my loved ones who couldn’t go to the concert is an awesome bonus.
Photo: Taylor Swift
Stay tuned for more Disney news and updates!
