The Pinoy film industry must consider it a blessing that phenomenal American pop idol Taylor Swift decided to release her filmed concert The Eras Tour this month, and the release covers the Philippines. The screening happens almost two months before the 2023 nationwide Metro Manila Film Festival, which kicks off right on Christmas Day.

Those two months may be enough for Pinoy moviegoers to save up for some or all of the entries in the festival, possibly making the festival earn more than it did last year. In December last year, we were all still struggling to recover from the pandemic.

Swift's concert film had a "broken" schedule of screenings in the Philippines. It had an initial screening of only three days on 13-15 October, the 13th of the month being a Friday. Swift is said to have always considered Friday the 13th a lucky day for her.

The concert film was also supposed to open in theaters in the US and in Canada on 13 October, but the advance ticket selling was overwhelming, so Swift decided to begin showing the film on Thursday. Swift really knows speedy ways to make more money.

The movie amassed $92.8 million during its opening weekend in the US and Canada, making it the highest-grossing domestic concert film ever, according to Box Office Mojo, which tracks box office earnings. That means it surpassed the $73 million run of Justin Bieber: Never Say Never in 2011.

In the Philippines, an entertainment website reported that the Swift film made P98 million on its first three days of screening. The movie runs for almost three hours and the ticket price is higher than usual. It reopened on Wednesday, 18 October.