Disney paid more than $75 million to Taylor Swift for the rights to stream “The Eras Tour” movie on Disney+, the result of a bidding war that included Netflix and Universal, Puck reported Friday.
Disney chief Bob Iger “wanted big announcements for yesterday’s earnings call, and paid big prices to get them,” including the pop star’s concert film, which grossed $261 million worldwide, the newsletter reported Friday, citing two sources familiar with the negotiations.
“Eras Tour” started its streaming as a PVOD title for Universal, where it “did well,” Puck reported. It will be available exclusively on Disney+ next month, on March 15.
Iger did, in fact, announce the streaming news on the company’s Wednesday afternoon earnings call. The streaming version will be known as “Taylor Swift | The Eras Tour (Taylor’s Version),” with the entirety of the concert film plus the song “Cardigan” and four additional acoustic songs.
The tour broke a massive record in December, becoming the first to gross over $1 billion. It broke Elton John’s “Farewell Yellow Brick Road” record, and set the mark in a mere eight months. During its theatrical run, “The Eras Tour” became the top selling concert film of all-time.
