In the fall of 2023, Taylor Swift briefly became not just the biggest star in music, but the biggest star at the multiplex.

That October, Taylor Swift: The Eras Tour opened to $93 million at the North American box office over its opening weekend, stunning the film business and helping kick off a new wave of theatrically released concert films. Importantly, it also arrived amid a sparse theatrical release calendar due to the overlapping writers’ and actors’ strikes, making it a godsend for movie theaters that were starved for content. In this way, it showcased the important role concert films can play for film exhibitors, which are increasingly looking to alternative content as the number of major studio releases declines and audiences stay home to stream from their couches.

“Taylor Swift: The Eras Tour completely changed the conversation,” says Brooks LeBeouf, senior vp of U.S. content at Regal Cinemas, the second-largest movie theater chain in the U.S. “It became the highest-grossing concert film of all time and proved that audiences will turn out for premium music experiences in theaters.”

The Eras Tour film, which finished its run having earned $180 million in North America and $261 million globally, according to Box Office Mojo, certainly wasn’t the first hit concert film at movie theaters in the modern era. In the late 2000s and early 2010s, there was a wave of such films targeting young fans of stars like Hannah Montana/Miley Cyrus (2008’s Best of Both Worlds, $65 million in North America), Justin Bieber (2011’s Never Say Never, $73 million) and One Direction (2013’s This Is Us, $29 million). In 2009, just months after Michael Jackson’s death, the MJ concert film This Is It also proved to be a major draw, grossing $72 million domestically.

The difference between then and now is that major studios release considerably fewer films today. That makes concert films and other alternative content increasingly important in padding out theaters’ bottom lines, says Daniel Loria, senior vp of content strategy and editorial director at Boxoffice Media, who cites increasing consolidation as a major reason for the shift.

“In 2015, when Fox operated independently as a studio [prior to being acquired by Disney], Fox Searchlight and 20th Century Fox released 26 movies,” Loria says. “Last year, as a division of Disney, 20th Century Studios and Searchlight Pictures combined released, I think, nine movies. So you basically erase two-thirds of the market value of a major studio at the box office. That’s massive.”

And with the looming (albeit not yet certain) acquisition of Warner Bros. by the David Ellison-led Paramount, he says, there could be even fewer major studio releases on the horizon.

“The quantity of [concert films doesn’t] necessarily make up for missing one studio film,” says Jeff Kaufman, senior vp of film and marketing at Malco Theatres, which has 37 locations in the Midwest and Southeastern U.S. “But it gives us an opportunity to fill a space during the week and during the weekend that may not be that strong based on the films that we’re playing.”

Perhaps the biggest sign of theaters’ increasing reliance on alternative content, and concert films in particular, arrived in May. That month, AMC Theatres, the largest theater chain in the U.S., announced a new initiative called Arena One that would see artists including Paris Hilton, Bebe Rexha, Kim Petras and Maren Morris performing concerts from a purpose-built stage in Pennsylvania, beamed live to more than 300 AMC locations across the U.S. Unlike traditional concert films, these shows will have an interactive element, allowing artists to see and actually communicate with fans in theaters across the country.

“The artist can literally walk up to the edge of our stage in our studio and point to you at the [AMC at the] Grove [mall in Los Angeles], and say, ‘Hey, love that black sweater you’re wearing. Stand up and tell them what you want to say,’” says Rohit Kapoor, founder and chief creative officer of Artist One, which partnered with AMC for the Arena One initiative.

Originally slated for June, the Arena One shows were postponed just weeks after they were announced, ostensibly due to strong recent box office receipts and “a robust lineup of films and strong advance ticket sales in the weeks ahead,” according to a statement released by the company. (AMC Theatres did not respond to multiple requests for updates on the initiative.)

“If you run a three-screen cinema or a small circuit, [having fewer major studio releases is] not a huge deal…but AMC is the mall multiplex company,” Loria says. “They are in a unique position of having to innovate and fill those screens.”

While “alternative content” can take many forms, from TV series finales (Stranger Things), to Netflix movies repurposed for the big screen (KPop Demon Hunters), to sports (World Cup games, F1 races), to live broadcasts of plays from Broadway and the West End, and, yes, marching band competitions (distributor Fathom Entertainment’s DCI 2026: Big, Loud and Live), music content is a critical part of the calculus.

“I think people want to come out of the house and gather communally,” says Ray Nutt, the former CEO of Fathom Entertainment (he retired in July), which is co-owned by AMC Theatres, Cinemark and Regal Cinemas and has released concert films from BTS, Garth Brooks, Christina Aguilera and Andrea Bocelli, among others. “I think [with] music, especially, they want to gather, take their friends to the [theater].”

Such films can help movie theaters, which do most of their business Friday through Sunday, fill seats during the slower weekday periods. Jamie Woglom, senior vp of marketing and strategic partnerships at Trafalgar Releasing, a giant in the space whose recent releases include concert films for KATSEYE, ATEEZ and Sia (the company also partnered with AMC Theatres to release both The Eras Tour and Renaissance: A Film by Beyoncé in some territories), says the company often schedules these films’ opening nights on weekdays. “Because [concert films are] more like appointment viewing, you’re driving fans in the theaters on those off-peak hours and days,” she says.

Of course, artists also stand to gain from these releases. “It allows them to reach communities where they may not be touring or reach fans that are maybe fringe fans that may not make that investment in a $300 or $400 ticket evening out [plus hiring] a babysitter,” says Kymberli Frueh, executive vp of content acquisitions and programming at Trafalgar. “It really introduces that fringe audience to the artists in a very intimate and affordable way.” Concert films also super-serve artists’ more ardent followers, many of whom will go see a live show at a traditional music venue and buy tickets to the concert movie when it hits theaters.

These screenings can also be beneficial to an artist’s merch operation, with movie theaters increasingly offering artist-specific merch for sale before shows. As Woglom puts it, “Exhibitors are getting more and more interested in carrying [merch],” of which they also get a cut. “Anytime you have a fervid fan base, they want to be as close to the talent as possible,” says Regal’s LeBeouf. “And if that comes through merchandise that the talent have created or signed off on, that just adds to the event-type experience.”

There are other less obvious ways artists can benefit from such content. In some cases, says Frueh, it can give their teams an idea of untapped markets they should be prioritizing on tour. “I have a project that I’m working on now, and management hasn’t toured in certain areas, but they’re like, ‘This could be really interesting to see if the fan base is robust enough that can help shape our tour go forward,’” she says.

Despite the growing importance of concert films to movie theaters’ business models, Loria notes they still make up a relatively small percentage of their overall box office and, with the exception of The Eras Tour, rarely bring in headline-grabbing amounts of money. Even Renaissance: A Film by Beyoncé, which captures one of the biggest concert tours from one of the biggest artists on planet Earth, only managed to place at No. 60 on the year-end U.S. box office tally with a still-respectable $34 million — just behind the M. Night Shyamalan thriller Knock at the Cabin. Earlier this year, the much-ballyhooed Billie Eilish concert film directed by James Cameron (Billie Eilish: Hit Me Hard and Soft) was viewed by some as an underperformer, bringing in about $9.9 million domestically and $26.7 million worldwide off a reported $20 million budget. But unlike traditional studio tentpole releases, which often come saddled with budgets of $100 million or more, the stakes for concert films are relatively low.

“No one’s looking at [concert films] saying, ‘We need this to perform.’ They’re saying that about Avatar, they’re saying that about Marvel, they’re saying that about Supergirl,” says Loria. “So [the] Billie [Eilish] movie, it’s not a massive hit, but it doesn’t have to be; it’s not designed to be that. It’s designed to help add to a weekend of moviegoing, or maybe mitigate some of the losses.”

Flo Rida had Philadelphia’s Citizens Bank Park rocking for his Phillies postgame concert — and he got an unlikely assist from a sleepy baby in the crowd.

The Philly faithful stuck around to rock with Flo Rida after the 6-4 win over the Miami Marlins on Tuesday night (Aug. 18). The 46-year-old ran the gauntlet of his smash hits, moving from the field to the stands and ending up in the dugout.

While performing an a cappella version of his top five Billboard Hot 100 hit “My House” from atop the dugout, Flo Rida picked up a baby from an eager parent in the audience, which made for a hilarious moment.

Fitted in a baby Phillies jersey, the toddler seemed to be woken up from a nap with the speakers booming throughout the stadium. Flo Rida held the baby in one arm while rocking the mic in his other hand and gave the kid a kiss on the cheek before handing her over to the parents. A fan on X nicknamed the baby as the “People’s Princess of Philadelphia.”

So somebody gave Flo Rida a baby and he’s on the 1B dugout with it? pic.twitter.com/NqqPzOArHq

— George Basile (@Georgeadelphia) August 19, 2026

Flo Rida starts #Phillies post game concert with «This is my Jam» pic.twitter.com/Fe7ti7C2JG

— David Malandra Jr (@DaveMReports) August 19, 2026

Flo Rida had plenty of fun throughout the performance as he had fans and a crew of hype men join him on the makeshift stage for 2015’s “G.D.F.R.” which reached No. 8 on the Billboard Hot 100.

“Cannot wait for the Flo Rida concert portion of the World Series Video Yearbook,” one fan joked on X while attempting to manifest another Philllies World Series appearance.

The Phillies have hosted Nelly, Zedd and Vanilla Ice for postgame shows in the past. The Phillies sit in second place at 69-58 in the NL East but currently hold a wild-card playoff spot.

The Florida-bred hitmaker has 29 Hot 100 entries to date, including 11 top 10s and three No. 1 hits.