Christopher Nolan Praises Taylor Swift For Sidestepping Studios For Her ‘Eras Tour’ Movie: “It’s Going To Make An Enormous Amount Of Money”

Christopher Nolan had some words of praise to share for Taylor Swift, who recently struck a lucrative deal with AMC to distribute her highly anticipated concert film, Taylor Swift: The Eras Tour.

“Taylor Swift is about to show the studios, because her concert film is not being distributed by the studios. It’s being distributed by the theater owner, AMC, and it’s going to make an enormous amount of money,” he said at a recent discussion about Oppenheimer, per Deadline.

According to the outlet’s report, Swift will earn a 57 percent cut of each ticket sold, a portion that would typically go to the studio distributor. By cutting out the middle man, both Swift and the theaters will profit more from her record-breaking tour film.

“This is the thing: this is a format, this is a way of seeing things and sharing stories, or sharing experiences, that’s incredibly valuable,” Nolan continued. “And if [the studios] don’t want it, somebody else will. So that’s just the truth of it.”

Taylor Swift: The Eras Tour has grossed an approximate total of $98.7 million since it premiered Oct. 13, with $92.8 million earned in its opening weekend alone. It also earned an additional $30.7 million internationally that weekend.

Nolan, like many seasoned filmmakers, is a big advocate for theatrical releases.

After 19 years of working together, he ended his longtime partnership with Warner Bros. in 2021 because the studio committed that year’s entire film slate to debut in a hybrid model, so films premiered on Max (then known as HBO Max) the same day they premiered in theaters during the pandemic. He exited after striking a deal with Universal for Oppenheimer.

Nolan did not hold back when he addressed the studio’s hybrid-release plans, calling it “a real bait and switch.”

“They’ve got some of the top filmmakers in the world, they’ve got some of the biggest stars in the world who worked for years in some cases on these projects very close to their hearts that are meant to be big-screen experiences,” he told Entertainment Tonight in 2021. “They’re meant to be out there for the widest possible audiences.”

“It’s very, very, very, very messy,” he continued. “Yeah, it’s sort of not how you treat filmmakers and stars and people who— these guys have given a lot for these projects. They deserved to be consulted and spoken to about what was going to happen to their work.”

Oppenheimer went on to earn $942 million in the box office since its July premiere, which famously coincided with the premiere of Greta Gerwig‘s Barbie.

Taylor Swift: The Eras Tour is expected to rank in the year’s biggest releases, likely alongside Oppenheimer and Barbie.