Pop superstar Taylor Swift was on hand to premiere her Eras Tour concert film in front of a crowd of Swifties and celebrities at a Los Angeles theater Wednesday night. She greeted fans who scored tickets to the world premiere and took selfies with them as they posed with her on a red carpet that stretched outside the theater. “Thank you for coming out tonight to see ‘Taylor Swift: The Eras Tour,'” she said. “Working on this movie with you guys has been a joy, and I’m proud of it.”
The premiere came just one day after Ticketmaster announced that the concert film would debut early because of what the company calls “unprecedented” ticket demand. Ticketmaster’s website crashed Tuesday as thousands of Swifties tried to buy tickets for the first time in years. “This unprecedented demand made it clear that there is no greater fan base than Taylor Swift’s,” the company said in a release. It added that if the singer’s Eras Tour sold out all 900 of its stadium shows, Swift would have to perform for 2.5 years to match the sales of her new music video “Look What You Made Me Do.”
Despite the flurry of ticket presales, many fans were still disappointed when they couldn’t score seats to see the movie in their cities. But a day ahead of schedule, the film plays at AMC and Regal locations across North America. The theater chain has also set up special film screenings on Friday and throughout the weekend.
AMC says that the advance screenings are only open to those who received an invitation by email from Ticketmaster. The company says it will send more emails next week to eligible customers, staggered by city and tour date. But it says it will offer as many of those invitations as possible.
Swift wore a strapless pale blue dress with bold cat eyeglasses and a diamond choker necklace at the world premiere at the AMC The Grove Theater in Los Angeles. Her wavy hair was pulled back into a sleek faux bob that hugged her chiseled jawline. She greeted fans, posed for photos, and gave a three-minute speech about how much the concert film meant to her and her fans. She also expressed gratitude, asking attendees for their support and reminding them to love themselves.
The premiere was a star-studded affair, with actresses Rachel Zegler and Maren Morris joining in on the fun. Singers like Alicia Keys and Demi Lovato were there, too. Actors, including Adam Sandler, Mariska Hargitay, and Simu Liu, sat in the audience, wearing friendship bracelets that mimicked the style worn by Swift’s many fans. The crowd at the theater seemed to enjoy the film just as much as Swift did, bopping their heads and pumping their arms to the songs onscreen and mimicking her dancing moves. The concert movie felt a lot like a live show.
