{"id":190287,"date":"2025-10-04T22:46:11","date_gmt":"2025-10-04T22:46:11","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/190287\/"},"modified":"2025-10-04T22:46:11","modified_gmt":"2025-10-04T22:46:11","slug":"taylor-swifts-showgirl-rules-box-office-the-rocks-new-film-bombs","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/190287\/","title":{"rendered":"Taylor Swift’s ‘Showgirl’ Rules Box Office, The Rock’s New Film Bombs"},"content":{"rendered":"

\n\tTaylor Swift<\/a>\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 $28 million to $32 million from 3,702 theaters, according to estimates from Swift\u2019s team and partner AMC Theatres. Some distributors believe it could even approach $35 million.<\/p>\n

\n\tWhatever the outcome, those numbers are in sharp contrast to ticket sales for the Dwayne Johnson<\/a>-led biopic The Smashing Machine, which is getting knocked around in its domestic debut, marking what appears to be a career-low opening for the actor despite delivering a performance worthy of Oscar consideration. Playing in 3,345 theaters, the A24 release took ind $2.7 million Friday for a projected weekend gross of $6 million, versus the $12 million to $14 million it was expected to earn. The R-rated pic was slapped with a B- CinemaScore by moviegoers, but has fared well with critics.<\/p>\n

\n\tConversely, Taylor Swift: The Official Release Party of a Showgirl earned a coveted A+ CinemaScore, just as her history-making concert film Eras Tour did. Nearly 90 percent of Friday\u2019s moviegoers were female.<\/p>\n

\n\tSwift went to great lengths to keep the Showgirl project top secret until the 11th hour (they almost succeeded, but not quite<\/a>), 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 on sale that day at 12:12 local time for $12, in keeping with Swift\u2019s longtime relationship with numbers (Showgirl is her 12th studio album). Consumers can expect to pay notably more than $12 for premium large-format screenings.<\/p>\n

\n\tShowgirl, playing in theaters for only three days, can best be described as a mix of music videos, behind-the-scenes footage and a series of lyric videos for tracks on her new album. And it\u2019s anchored by the world premiere of the music video for\u00a0Showgirl\u00a0single \u201cThe Fate of Ophelia,\u201d which she directed. <\/p>\n

\n\tIn 2023, Taylor Swift: The Eras Tour<\/a> catapulted Swift to box office fame when it opened to a record-smashing $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<\/a> to distribute the film. The cinema circuit is likewise releasing\u00a0Showgirl\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\u2018s review of Showgirl<\/a>, \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\tPaul Thomas Anderson\u2019s awards contender One Battle After Another, starring Leonardo DiCaprio, is falling to second place in its sophomore outing. The Warner Bros. film is expected to fall 51 percent to $10.8 million for a 10-day domestic total of $80 million.<\/p>\n

\n\tFrom filmmaker Benny Safdie, Smashing Machine reunites Johnson with his Jungle Cruise 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.<\/p>\n

\n\tThe male-fueled movie \u2014 which marks the first time Johnson has pursued a place in the Oscar race \u2014 is looking at a third-place finish behind Showgirl and holdover One Battle After Another<\/a>. <\/p>\n

\n\tSwift\u2019s Showgirl isn\u2019t hurting Smashing Machine in terms of stealing away moviegoers, but it did swoop in and book a number of premium large-format screens that Smashing Machine had wanted.<\/p>\n

\n\tInsiders close to the film say the tracking was overly aggressive due to Johnson\u2019s star status, and that a $6 million start isn\u2019t uncommon during awards season. More important than a big opening weekend is sustaining momentum. While that\u2019s certainly true, many moviegoers don\u2019t seem to be connecting with Smashing Machine thus far, based on the worrisome B- CinemaScore (for an adult drama, that\u2019s like receiving a C).<\/p>\n

\n\tA24 has worked magic before. Darren Aronofsky\u2019s The Whale was neither a critical or box office hit in the U.S., yet that didn\u2019t hurt its Oscar chances, with Brendan Fraser winning the Oscar for best actor. In 2019, the Safdie brothers\u2019 Uncut Gems, starring Adam Sandler, became both an awards darling and a box office success despite receiving a C+ CinemaScore.<\/p>\n

\n\tOne difference between Smashing Machine and those two films: A24 opened The Whale and Uncut Gems in only a handful of theaters in early December before expanding the two titles nationwide over Christmas (The Whale never played in more than 1,700 or so cinemas). Opening Smashing Machine in 3,345 locations is a far more aggressive move, although sources say A24 remains confident that the film will find its stride as word of mouth grows and becomes more positive. The indie distributor also believes Johnson will remain in the awards mix.<\/p>\n

\n\tAnother offering this weekend is James Cameron\u2019s Avatar: The Way of Water, 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: Fire and Ash opens.<\/p>\n

\n\tWay of Water is 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 is projected to earn $2 million to $3 million domestically from 2,100 theaters.<\/p>\n

\n\tEstimates will be updated Sunday morning.<\/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…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":190288,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[31998,43,44,7223,95103,41,39,42,40],"class_list":{"0":"post-190287","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-headlines","8":"tag-dwayne-johnson","9":"tag-headlines","10":"tag-news","11":"tag-taylor-swift","12":"tag-taylor-swift-the-eras-tour","13":"tag-top-news","14":"tag-top-stories","15":"tag-topnews","16":"tag-topstories"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/190287","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=190287"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/190287\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/190288"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=190287"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=190287"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=190287"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}