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Taylor Swift’s ‘Official Release Party of a Showgirl’ Wins Weekend Box Office

Oct 05, 2025 13:04:00 -0400 by Janet H. Cho | #Media

A movie about Taylor Swift’s newest album scored the top spot at the domestic box office. (WILLIAM WEST/AFP via Getty Images)

Key Points

Taylor Swift’s The Official Release Party of a Showgirl ruled the domestic box office charts, raking in an estimated $33 million through Sunday.

The 89-minute movie was advertised as a one-weekend-only “cinematic experience” about the making of her 12th studio album, The Life of a Showgirl, and other only-in-theaters exclusives, rather than a concert movie like Swift’s 2023 The Eras Tour.

Swift announced the movie, timed to coincide with the album release, in a Sept. 19 Instagram post: “I hereby invite you to a *dazzling* soirée,” the post said.

She promised her fans, popularly known as Swifties, the chance to see the premier of the music video for her single, ‘The Fate of Ophelia,’ plus behind-the-scenes footage of how it was made.

She added: “Dancing is optional but very much encouraged 💃”

The Official Release Party screened in 3,702 theaters, including at all 540 theater locations operated by AMC Entertainment , plus Regal and Cinemark theaters. Sales averaged $8,914 a theater, according to Comscore. It sold another $13 million in international box office, for a $46 million global debut weekend.

Comscore senior media analyst Paul Dergarabedian called the film’s $33 million debut “incredibly impressive” with only a two-week run-up from the announcement. “The movie industry-music industry synergies that Swift has harnessed is a blueprint for how alternative content outside of traditional narrative film can drive huge numbers of people to the multiplex.”

The Official Release Party of a Showgirl is expected to continue screening outside the U.S. and ultimately reach more than 110 countries and territories. Swift also worked with AMC for The Eras Tour, which grossed $261.7 million worldwide and remains the best-selling concert film of all time.

Other brands have tried to grab on. Baked by Melissa is selling a Life of a Showgirl-inspired limited-edition set of 24 orange-and-teal cupcakes ($38), and Insomnia Cookies is offering 13 cookies (Swift’s favorite number) for the price of 12, free delivery on orders of $20 or more with the promo code “Showgirl,” and a limited-edition chai cookie.

Starbucks held “global glitter party” listening events at participating coffeehouses, playing The Life of a Showgirl and “Starbucks Lovers” playlists. It reminded fans that it worked with Swift in 2021 around the release of her album Red (Taylor’s Version), including a promotion that included “Taylor’s Latte,” a caramel nonfat latte that it said was “Swift’s favorite drink.”

Elsewhere on the domestic box office, Warner Bros. Pictures’ One Battle After Another, a Paul Thomas Anderson-written and directed crime drama starring Leonardo DiCaprio, Sean Penn, and Benicio Del Toro, came in second place, selling $11.1 million in its second weekend for a domestic cumulative total of $42.8 million.

A24’s The Smashing Machine, a drama about mixed-martial arts and UFC champion Mark Kerr starring Dwayne Johnson, opened to a lower-than-expected $6 million domestic weekend, Comscore said.

Dergarabedian said the importance of The Smashing Machine goes well beyond this weekend’s box office performance, because Dwayne Johnson is branching out into “uncharted territory” as he redefines his career. “It’ll be interesting to see how the movie plays over the long haul, and the attention and awards nominations and further critical acclaim that are likely to follow,” he said.

“The currency of acting street cred outweighs the currency of dollars and cents for Johnson in this role,” Dergarabedian added.

Write to Janet H. Cho at janet.cho@dowjones.com