Beyhive Buzz Boosts Beyoncé's Renaissance To $21 Million Opening Weekend At The Box Office
2023 has become the year of the concert movie, with "Renaissance: A Film by Beyoncé" being the second release in the space of a few months to debut at the top of the box office. Not only did "Renaissance" earn a rare A+ CinemaScore based on audience exit polling and an even rarer 100% score on Rotten Tomatoes (as of this writing), it has also lit up the usually quiet post-Thanksgiving weekend.
Like "Taylor Swift: The Eras Tour," Beyoncé's big-screen extravaganza has been brought to theaters through a direct deal with AMC Theatres Distribution, cutting out the middleman of a major studio distributor. The exhibitor began soliciting films from independent filmmakers back in 2010 through the AMC Independent program, but has recently grown more ambitious and, in doing so, ruffled a few feathers in Hollywood. "Renaissance" won't reach the dizzying heights of "The Eras Tour," but it'll be a profitable little cherry on top of the live version of Beyoncé's tour. The film grossed $11.5 million on its opening day, including $5.1 million in Thursday previews. Per Variety, it's on track for a $21 million domestic opening weekend and a global debut of $27.4 million.
Parsing the budget of "Renaissance" is tricky since most of the production value came from the live tour itself, which grossed a staggering $579 million by the end of its run. The budget for "The Eras Tour" film was reported to be around $10-20 million, so "Renaissance" could be in a similar ballpark — in which case, it's already well on its way to turning a profit. The film features a mix of concert footage and behind-the-scenes vignettes, and was directed by Beyoncé, James B. Merryman ("Shakira In Concert: El Dorado World Tour"), and Mark Ritchie (the cinematographer for Beyoncé's 2019 concert film "Homecoming").
Democratizing the concert experience
Two back-to-back concert film hits is sure to increase interest in concert film releases in future, and AMC Theatres could make them the center of its distribution arm. Of course, there's no match for the live concert experience, but with a limited number of performances in a limited number of locations, and an average ticket price of $700, the live concert experience simply isn't accessible for most people. This problem also applies to Broadway shows, which are usually preserved on film but are very rarely made available to watch outside of the theater, for fear of cannibalizing ticket prices. (The Disney+ release of "Hamilton" was a rare exception.)
The monster success of "Taylor Swift: The Eras Tour" at the theatrical box office doesn't seem to have done any harm at the concert box office; by October, the tour had grossed more than $2 billion, with the $248.9 million from the film's release acting as a bonus. "Renaissance: A Film by Beyoncé" was announced at the end of the live tour, so wouldn't have had done any harm there either. Since the filmed performances can be shown in vastly more locations than either Taylor Swift or Beyoncé could physically perform in, these releases expand the event experience to a much larger audience of fans (plus spouses, friends, family members etc. that those fans have dragged along).