Beyoncé to release concert film as theater chains look to fill movie slate
A new film about Beyoncé’s Renaissance World Tour will debut in theaters this December as cinema chains work to fill in the rest of the year's blockbuster slate following the Hollywood strikes.
AMC (AMC), the world's largest theater chain, confirmed the news early Monday, prompting shares to initially pop 1% in early trading before reversing gains.
The stock bounced back by late afternoon, roughly matching the gains of both IMAX (IMAX) and Cinemark (CNK) shares rose on the heels of the announcement.
News of the film's release comes weeks after Taylor Swift announced her Eras Tour will be heading to movie theaters in October.
The release of the Beyoncé film will be another welcome event for theaters as the nearly five-month-long writers strike caused multiple disruptions to the release schedule. Most notably, Warner Bros.' (WBD) "Dune" sequel was delayed to March 2024 after it was originally scheduled for November 2023.
Other studios have also reshuffled their respective programming with Hollywood actors still on the picket lines. The union, SAG-AFTRA, is set to resume negotiations with studios on Monday.
In a press release, AMC said the Renaissance Tour film will begin airing in the US, Canada, and Mexico on Dec. 1 with additional global cities announced at a later date.
Tickets will be priced at $22 plus tax. By comparison, Taylor Swift's Eras Tour movie tickets will be sold at a price point of $19.89 before tax.
In an interview with Yahoo Finance last month, IMAX CEO Richad Gelfond said presales for the Eras Tour film were well over $65 million as consumers search for more "premium experiences."
"IMAX has about 350 sellouts for the opening weekend," he said at the time. "It could be a $100 million weekend, which is just mind-boggling."
Alexandra Canal is a Senior Reporter at Yahoo Finance. Follow her on Twitter @allie_canal, LinkedIn, and email her at [email protected].
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