Taylor Swift looks poised to break records this weekend. Her new album, The Life of a Showgirl, sold 2.7 million copies in traditional album sales in the U.S. on its first day of release, Oct. 3. Meanwhile, The Official Release Party of a Showgirl — the one-weekend-only film event that gives fans a behind-the-scenes look at her 12th studio album — is expected to be Number One at the domestic box office, according to early projections.
On the album front, the pop star’s new album — including all versions of the album — sold 2.7 million from both physical and digital sales on its debut day Friday, according to initial reports from Luminate, as Billboard reports. The numbers make this Swift’s biggest album sales week ever, and marks the second-largest week for any LP in contemporary times, from 1991 when Luminate started electronically tracking data. The Life of a Showgirl looks to potentially break Adele’s 25 modern-era sales record; 25 sold 3.378 million copies in its debut week in 2015.
Swift also breaks her own record for the most vinyl copies sold in the modern era (1991-present). The musician’s Life of a Showgirl has already sold 1.2 million vinyl copies, which breaks the single-week record she herself set. In 2024, The Tortured Poets Department sold 859,000 vinyl copies in its debut week.
Meanwhile, the film, which screens in movie theaters from Oct. 3 through Oct. 5, is expected to rake in between $28 million and $32 million from 3,702 theaters, per estimates made by Swift’s team and AMC Theatres, The Hollywood Reporter reports. Some distributors think it could potentially exceed $35 million.
While the pop star’s weekend-only theatrical event the ticket sales are impressive, Dwayne Johnson’s The Smashing Machine‘s debut draw has fallen short of expectations. The Smashing Machine drew $2.7 million for its domestic debut on Friday, as THR notes. It’s projected to gross $6 million over the weekend, a far cry from the $12 million to $14 million the film was projected to bring in.
Swift’s 90-minute, limited release film earned an A+ CinemaScore, mirroring the response from fans to Swift’s 2023 history-making concert film, Taylor Swift: The Eras Tour. In contrast, The Smashing Machine earned a B- Cinemascore from moviegoers.
The pop star’s box office reign this weekend is also notable in that Showgirl is not a concert film nor a documentary in a classic sense. Instead, it features the premiere of the Swift-directed music video for “The Fate of Ophelia” and behind-the-scenes footage from the video’s set, alongside Swift sharing the stories behind the songs on her new album, and it also showcases lyric videos.
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Swift conquered the box office previously with 2023’s Taylor Swift: The Eras Tour movie. The concert film grossed more than $261.6 million globally, becoming the highest-grossing concert film and documentary ever.
From Rolling Stone US
