Sophia Michaels
There’s absolutely nothing like the experience of seeing your favorite artist live alongside a sea of fans who know all the lyrics just like you do. But many Taylor Swift fans just came close to that experience in their local movie theaters with The Eras Tour movie. The concert film had the highest-grossing opening weekend for a concert movie of all time and continues to dominate at the box office against movies like Killers of the Flower Moon and The Exorcist: Believer. With Beyoncé’s Renaissance movie coming next, I’ve been thinking about what other artists of their scope should get their own movies next.
It’s such a gift for so many people to have access to what could be a $100-to-$1000 dollar experience to see a concert, and instead only pay the price of admission to a movie. They are different experiences, of course, but following The Eras Tour movie’s success, it’s an inspired idea, and I want to talk about other beloved artists right now that I think could replicate Swift and Beyoncé’s concert movie strategies.
Harry Styles
Last summer, Harry Styles concluded his 169-show Love On Tour in support of his 2019 album Fine Line and 2022’s Harry’s House. The arena tour reportedly grossed over $600 million across its span of 22 months, becoming one of the biggest tours of all time. I didn’t get a chance to go to this one, and I solidly regret it. Even though I’m not an OG Harry Styles fan, one cannot deny how absolutely joyous and catchy Harry Styles’ recent music has been, and everyone who went to those shows looked like they were absolutely living! Love On Tour became a viral sensation on TikTok, between celebs like Olivia Wilde jamming out at shows and that time Styles got hit by a chicken nugget.
If there was a Harry Styles concert movie, I could see the Don’t Worry Darling alum coming close or even breaking Swift’s records considering the absolute pandemonium of adoration toward the British pop star. I watched a live stream of Styles’ Coachella performance, and there’s absolutely a cinematic quality to his live shows he could bring to the big screen.
Rihanna
Although it’s been a hot minute since Rihanna put out new music, aside from her Black Panther: Wakanda Forever songs, the singer continues to be one of the biggest names in music, especially coming off of her Super Bowl LVII halftime show performance early this year. Rihanna is absolutely at the caliber of Taylor Swift and Beyoncé following her two decades as a prominent pop artist. She could easily fill up a career-spanning live show to be captured on film, and it would drive in tons of fans to see it in theaters.
Since Rihanna has shifted her focus to her business endeavors and growing family, she could even do a few ambitious shows, shoot them and release the film rather than doing a globe-trotting tour. Either way, considering the artist has not hit the road since her 2016 Anti World Tour, there’s certainly a hunger for Rihanna to return to her roots in music. Between her host of iconic performances over the years, I think there’s undoubtedly potential in a Rihanna concert movie.
Lady Gaga
Another cinematic artist who would just completely dazzle with a big screen concert movie is Ms. Lady Gaga. Much like Taylor Swift and Beyoncé, Lady Gaga is another pop queen who has been around for a long time and has a huge body of work she could showcase in an event film. What’s especially exciting to me about a Lady Gaga concert movie is how she could inject her unique visions from her live shows, music videos and even work as an Oscar-nominated actress to a movie showcasing her work as a musician.
Much like Rihanna, Gaga has been splitting her time between performing and her other pursuits, so I could see how filming a live show could fit into her strategy as an artist, along with making her artistry more accessible to a wider audience. Recently, Gaga had a Las Vegas residency following her 2022 Chromatica Ball tour, so why not take her talents to movie theaters next?
Paramore
Given the scale of this artist is smaller than the rest, my personal favorite band to see live has always been Paramore. The band has also made a significant mark in the emo and punk scene across two decades, and is even set to tour alongside upcoming Taylor Swift’s Eras Tour dates in Europe in 2024. While they don’t have as big of a reach as artists like Harry Styles, Rihanna or Lady Gaga, Paramore fans would absolutely come in droves for this, and I think would really surprise at the box office if a concert movie were to come out.
I think it would also be particularly interesting if Hayley Williams and the band’s great live energy was intertwined with archival footage of them over the years to showcase the journey rock’s few female leads have gone on. Additionally, it would be interesting to see other big artists who were directly influenced by Paramore, like Olivia Rodrigo or Willow Smith, be part of this project I’m truly just dreaming up right now.
Billie Eilish
Lastly, I think Billie Eilish could also put together a successful concert movie following her incredible early massive success as a young artist across the past five years in particular. The bad guy singer has accomplished a lot across two album cycles, including writing music for No Time to Die and Barbie. Plus, Eilish has already put out an Apple TV+ documentary and a Disney+ concert film. She has an incredible vision for visuals in her music and clearly loves the world of movies. I could see her following in Swift’s footsteps following a future tour and I hope she does.
Now, there are truly so many possibilities when it comes to future concert films. I also thought about how big acts like Drake, Bad Bunny and SZA don’t have concert movies and could also produce movies for the big screen. There’s truly so many possibilities! Overall, I’m really excited about the doors Swift’s Eras Tour may open for more large-scale concert movies. Swift’s film is now playing in theaters, and Beyoncé’s is among 2023 new movie releases to come, with it hitting theaters on December 1.
