Penn’s Picks for Flicks

Penn’s Picks for Flicks

Barbie had it locked up. She brought along Oppenheimer for the ride, and the two of them were set to be the story of 2023 at the box office. Everyone was wearing pink, and people who would never typically line up for a Christopher Nolan film were doing just that. It was great. It was the year of “Barbenheimer.” What a great summer, what a great year.

And then Taylor Swift wanted to get in on the fun and everything changed.

What was so remarkable about Swift's movie was how it came to be. I was home drinking a coffee when my daughter texted me a screenshot of Taylor Swift's announcement of an "AMC Exclusive" concert film on October 13. This was at 7:30 a.m.

The text included her message: "Dad, are we getting this?!" ("We" meaning Penn Cinema, of course.)

It was the very first I had heard of any of it. By 9 a.m., we had figured out that if we were in a "non-AMC Market" (which we are), then we had a shot. We figured out who was distributing to non-AMC theaters and I spent the next couple hours badgering my guy until finally—trying to control his exasperation—he said, "Penn, I'll call you when I know something.”

By lunchtime, we were in! I immediately put tickets on sale, and by that afternoon, we had sold hundreds of tickets without even telling anyone they were on sale. People just found them. By dinnertime, most of the IMAX shows were sold out. By the next morning, we had sold thousands of tickets to a show that a few hours earlier we never heard of.

Taylor Swift: The Eras Tour took less than 12 hours to go from "never heard of it" to becoming a contender for biggest movie of the year — and easily the biggest concert movie of all time. And that's just taking the pre-sales into account.

By the time you're reading this, Swift’s concert film will be up and running (it opens on October 13, 2023), and you will surely have seen press accounts of long lines and Swifites by the thousands having a ball at their local multiplexes.

I love this story. Maybe it's because I'm a Girl-Dad, but I love the combination of Barbie in the Summer and Swift in October. I love the positive energy that emanates from both storylines. This is a really good thing. I'm cool with Barbie sharing the 2023 spotlight with Taylor Swift.

And, as always with this movie business that I love... I can't wait to see what comes next!

By Penn Ketchum