This weekend belonged to Taylor Swift and the history books. The release of her latest album, The Life of a Showgirl, dominated the cultural conversation, the charts (as early tallies revealed), and movie theaters around the world.
It was even more impressive considering her movie theater event, “Taylor Swift: Showgirls Official Release Party,” blew past Leonardo DiCaprio and Dwayne Johnson by passing as two of the biggest box office hits in Hollywood.
Swift’s 89-minute theatrical experiment took Dicaprio’s Oscar-hopeful “Next Battle” and Johnson’s own award-winning performance for “The Smashing Machine,” earning $34 million domestically. In contrast, “One Battle” earned $11 million, leaving “Smashing Machine” with just $6 million. As mentioned in Sunday’s Box Office, Swift’s release raked in those numbers with about two weeks of notice to consumers and a promotional campaign driven primarily by her social media accounts.
That brings us to an important reminder: she owes us her directorial debut.
Swift has announced that she will be working with Searchlight Pictures (Disney’s prestige film label behind “Black Swan” and “The Favoration”) to write and direct her first feature film in 2022. Plot details were sparse, but interviews over the past three years have hinted that her script had elements of drama and comedy.
Searchlight announced the project in a full press release. The company’s principal calls Swift a “once-in-a-generation artist and storyteller.” At the time, hopes were that the project would be fast-tracked – quickly dashed when Swift’s record-breaking ERAS tour was announced and later extended. Earlier this year, Insneider reported that Swift stole screenwriter Alice Birch (“Die, My Love,” “Lady MacBeth”) to pass on a draft of the script. Although none of the sources denied it, Swift will handle the script.
Searchlight is still in a holding pattern, sources familiar with the project say, waiting for Swift to call for an update. A representative for Swift had no immediate comment on the matter, nor did a spokesperson for Searchlight Pictures. Still, there’s ink of hope that Swift will turn her attention to her movies in the coming months.
Global talk shows have been making the rounds to promote “Showgirl Life,” and Swift has stated that she will not be supporting her new album on tour.
“I’m going to be really honest with you,” Swift told BBC Radio last week about returning to the road. “Like, I’m so tired when I want to do it again because I want to do it really well again.”
A proper quick film is a huge boon to Disney’s theatrical business. Swift’s 2023 concert film, based on the ERAS tour, earned a staggering $260 million in theaters as a result of direct partnerships with theater chains like AMC. Then Disney came along and scooped up the worldwide streaming rights to Disney+ for a reported $75 million.
And for those speculating that Swift might retreat into domestic bliss after she marries Travis Kelce, which is rumored to be happening this year, don’t expect any Tradewife TikTok posts any time soon.
In a second chat with BBC Radio, Swift called the suggestion that she retire after becoming Mrs. Kelce “shockingly offensive.”
