All hail Queen Bey at the box office. Beyoncé‘s much-anticipated concert film, Renaissance topped the domestic box office this weekend with $21 million USD in its opening.
Beyoncé, who wrote, directed and produced the film, saw ticket sales rank as one of the best debuts for concert film, joining others like Taylor Swift‘s The Eras Tour, which is currently the biggest with $92.9 million USD, 2008’s Hannah Montana & Miley Cyrus: Best of Both Worlds Concert with $31.1 million USD, 2011’s Justin Bieber: Never Say Never and 2009’s Michael Jackson: This Is It.
AMC Theatres shared that this is the first time in two decades that a film has opened to more than $20 million USD on the weekend following Thanksgiving, which has notoriously been a slow time for films. While domestically, Renaissance surpassed expectations, it fell short of projections overseas just opening to $6.4 million USD in 94 territories, bringing her global earnings to $27.4 million USD.
Beyoncé gets to pocket 50% of box office earnings while exhibitors keep the remaining revenue and AMC takes a small distribution fee, just like Swift’s The Eras Tour. However, it is important to note that film ticket sales will not come close to her sold-out stadium tour. It remains to be seen how the film will continue to fair overtime.
