Weeks after Taylor Swift announced a historic partnership with AMC Theaters to distribute an Eras Tour concert film — a move that sidestepped the Hollywood studios who typically distribute such projects and prompted the film industry to shuffle its October release calendar — Beyoncé could be gearing up to bring a similar project to the theater chain.
Variety has reported that the pop star is set to unveil a filmed presentation of her blockbuster Renaissance World Tour at AMC Theaters this December. Much like Swift’s arrangement with AMC, the deal would reportedly bypass conventional Hollywood distributors and allow the theater chain to distribute the film directly, with Beyoncé’s team receiving 50 percent of the box office receipts.
Beyoncé’s Renaissance was released in July 2022 to great fanfare, receiving a Grammy nomination for Album of the Year and winning Best Dance/Electronic Album. The Renaissance World Tour kicked off in May 2023 and is expected to gross over $500 million.
Beyoncé is also rumored to have filmed a series of videos for a visual album (similar to the one she released for Lemonade in 2016). Many have speculated that the upcoming film could contain both footage from the tour and videos shot for the visual album.
The news appears to confirm a trend that many industry observers thought was inevitable after Swift partnered with AMC. While occasional bright spots like Barbie and Oppenheimer proved that movie theaters are far from dead, the industry still faces a bleak financial outlook and needs alternative revenue streams.
At the same time, larger-than-life stars like Swift and Beyoncé have proven themselves capable of building their business apparatuses to directly market products to their massive fanbases. As a result, the need for conventional middlemen like record labels and movie studios is often eliminated.
