And that’s the life of a showgirl.
Taylor Swift‘s “The Official Release Party of a Showgirl,” a cinematic complement to the pop star’s 12th studio album, “The Life of a Showgirl,” sauntered to No. 1 at the worldwide box office with an estimated $46 million over the weekend. Those ticket sales — including $13 million from 54 international territories as well as $33 million domestically — represent a massive turnout for a release that wasn’t on anyone’s radar until a few weeks ago.
Swift chose again to bypass the traditional Hollywood system and partner with AMC Theatres to distribute “The Official Release Party of a Showgirl.” The cinema chain also handled the rollout of Swift’s prior theatrical venture, 2023’s wildly successful “Taylor Swift: The Eras Tour” concert film, which opened to $123 million globally on its way to setting all kinds of box office benchmarks. “The Official Release Party of a Showgirl,” an undisputed win for Swift and theater owners, will have a much shorter theatrical life because it’s only slated to play on the big screen for three days.
“It was simply a wonderful gift to her passionate and enthusiastic fans, who got to see, on our giant screens, behind the scenes footage and insight into ‘The Life of a Showgirl.’ AMC Theatres is so proud to have collaborated with Taylor,” said the company’s CEO, Adam Aron. “What an honor and privilege and joy it has been for us to once again play a role in her incomparable success.”
Elsewhere, Leonardo DiCaprio’s action comedy “One Battle After Another” surpassed the $100 million mark in its second weekend of release. The Warner Bros. film, directed by Paul Thomas Anderson, has earned $58.9 million internationally and $101.7 million globally to date. That’s an impressive tally for an original, R-rated adventure with a nearly three-hour runtime. And it’s now the highest-grossing film ever for Anderson, overtaking 2007’s “There Will Be Blood” ($76.4 million, not adjusted for inflation).
However, “One Battle After Another” needs to generate a lot more coinage — roughly $300 million worldwide — to break even theatrically against its budget above $130 million. International audiences might be the saving grace. So far, “One Battle After Another” is holding better in overseas markets; the film added $21.7 million from 77 foreign territories in its sophomore outing, a mere 17% decline from its debut. For comparison, ticket sales dropped a standard 53% at the domestic box office.
Regardless if “One Battle” manages to turn a theatrical profit, Warner Bros. has been enjoying an epic box office hot streak with 2025 successes that range from “Sinners” and “Weapons” to “A Minecraft Movie” and “Final Destination: Bloodlines.” This weekend, the studio’s horror sequel “The Conjuring: Last Rites” hit a major box office milestone, crossing the $450 million mark. The ninth entry in the paranormal series, which already stood as the highest-grossing entry, has generated a scary-good $290 million overseas and $458.2 million globally.
Meanwhile, “Avatar: The Way of Water” swam back to the big screen and earned $6.8 million overseas and $10 million globally over the weekend. Disney re-released the blockbuster sequel to generate excitement for the third installment, “Avatar: Fire and Ash,” which debuts theatrically in December. Prior to this weekend, “Avatar: The Way of Water” had already earned $2.32 billion and ranks as the third-highest grossing movie in box office history.