The Eras Tour Concert Film’s World Premiere at The Grove’s AMC Theatre Featured an Appearance by Taylor Swift as a Movie Star

The diva came early and smiled for pictures with her team and with director Sam Wrench before hurriedly racing inside the Los Angeles event. Just before the Los Angeles event, the star announced her film would launch on Thursday in North America instead of its intended Friday night release date. Taylor Swift paused for photographs with many of the hundreds of admirers who lined the door to the auditorium, who were exchanging friendship bracelets and singing along to her songs. Along with Swift’s mother Andrea, celebrities Rachel Zegler, Maren Morris, Simu Liu, Julia Garner, Mariska Hargitay, and Adam Sandler were there. Beyoncé, whose concert movie Renaissance will be released by AMC in December, also made an unexpected cameo at the event and posed with Swift on the red carpet.

Taylor Swift addressed the audience in each of the 13 theaters where the movie was being screened briefly before the screening, saying, “I wanted to come and say hi to you before you watched the film because honestly, the fact that this tour was such a grand adventure has everything to do with how you cared about this tour and these shows. I think that you’ll see that you’re absolutely a main character in the film, because it was your magic and your attention to detail and your sense of humor and the ways that you lean into what I’m doing and the music I create.”

“In my mind, it is the perfect capture of what this show was like for me.” Taylor Swift also thanked fans “for being so incredibly extra, I appreciate it more than you know. This night is like an extremely core memory for me, so you’re a part of it and I’m so grateful for that,” Swift also thanked the crowd. The actress watched the movie with her backup dancers in one theater while the audience sang and danced along.

The renowned shopping center The Grove announced on its social media platforms earlier in the day that the entire complex will be closed on Wednesday for the event, preparing L.A. for Taylor Swift-induced madness to hit the city.

Social media videos also displayed step-and-repeat backdrops with the Eras Tour poster along with The Grove’s customary cobblestone streets covered in a big red carpet encircling the theater. Along with closing the nearby streets, more police officers were stationed nearby. Although The Original Farmers Market, which is located next to The Grove, announced on Wednesday that it is still open for business, when THR visited, several obstacles were preventing Farmers Market customers from entering The Grove while Taylor Swift’s music was playing over the speakers.

The film Taylor Swift: The Eras Tour, which debuts on Friday in over 8,000 theaters across the world and is being distributed exclusively by AMC Theatres, details the record-breaking Eras Tour that Swift launched in March with a 44-song setlist that includes songs from all of her studio albums. The concert movie lasts for two hours and 48 minutes, which is a little under her three-hour-plus performances. Taylor Swift revealed that the movie will begin screenings on Thursday night in North America and Canada, just before the premiere event.

Following advance global ticket sales that crossed the $100 million mark a week before the film’s release, The Eras Tour is on track for a record global opening for a concert film of $150 million to $200 million, including $100 million to $125 million in North America and $50 million to $75 million overseas.