- AMC owes Taylor Swift and Beyoncé — big time.
- CEO Adam Aron says ‘literally all’ of AMC’s revenue growth in Q4 was from their concert films.
- Swift’s film alone earned $275 million worldwide, smashing records.
AMC saw a jump in revenue at the end of last year, and the theater chain has two of the most famous women in the world to thank: Beyoncé and Taylor Swift.
In an earnings call on Wednesday, AMC CEO Adam Aron said that “literally all” of the company’s 11.5% revenue growth in Q4 of 2023 was from the pop superstars’ concert films documenting the wildly popular “Eras” and “Renaissance” tours.
“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 in our entire 103-year history,” Aron said during the call. “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.”
Total revenues for the quarter reached $1,104.4 million, compared to $990.9 million for the same period in 2022, according to AMC’s earnings report.
Aron said that Swift’s film alone raked in $275 million worldwide, making it the highest-grossing concert film and the highest-grossing documentary of all time.
For the full year of 2023, AMC’s attendance shot up 19% compared to the year before; at over $4.8 billion, its annual revenue increased by 23%, Aron added.
And it wasn’t just AMC that benefited from “Taylor Swift: The Eras Tour” and “Renaissance: A Film by Beyoncé.” Aron said that the concert films made up one-ninth of Q4 box office earnings across the entire industry domestically.
AMC’s phones are now “ringing off the hook,” Aron said, from other artists clamoring to get their concert films on the big screen in 2024 and 2025.
