It’s official — Taylor Swift: The Eras Tour movie is heading to China, the last major market the pop star has yet to conquer in 2023.
The smash-hit concert film, which already has earned over $250 million worldwide, is set to receive a wide release in China’s cinemas Dec. 31, New Year’s Eve. The announcement was made in Beijing on Friday at 13:13 (or 1:13 p.m.), a reference to Swift’s much-beloved lucky number.
As is the case virtually everywhere, Swift is among the very most popular contemporary American musical artists in China today. Just how much The Eras Tour might earn in the country, however, is a subject of some debate among Beijing industry insiders and analysts. The film was released over streaming platforms in the U.S. and other markets Dec. 13 (Swift’s birthday), so piracy could take a bite out of potential Chinese movie ticket sales. But Swift’s popularity in the country is such that a sizable but unknown number of fans will probably make an event out of the theatrical release — much like Swifties who had already attended Eras Tour concerts did stateside.
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Most major Western stars are affectionately known to Chinese fans by local nicknames. Swift is lovingly referred to as “Meimei,” a play on words that reference both the Chinese word for “unlucky” (a reference to her early career tangle with Kanye West at the MTV Video Music Awards and occasional chart disappointments) and “beautiful.” Chinese fans are, thus, “Meimeis” rather than Swifties.
Unlike in the U.S., where AMC Theatres served as both the distributor and exhibitor for The Eras Tour, circumventing the Hollywood studios, Swift’s film is being released in China via more conventional means. Alibaba Pictures, the entertainment subsidiary of e-commerce giant Alibaba Group, acquired the rights to the concert movie via Trafalgar Releasing. The Chinese company is releasing the film in partnership with the state distributor China Film Group.
