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Taylor-Mania Hits Tokyo as Swift Resumes Tour Before Super Bowl 

A Taylor Swift fan from Hong Kong poses for a photo in front of the venue of Taylor Swift's international tour named "The Eras Tour" in Tokyo, Japan February 7, 2024. (Reuters)
A Taylor Swift fan from Hong Kong poses for a photo in front of the venue of Taylor Swift's international tour named "The Eras Tour" in Tokyo, Japan February 7, 2024. (Reuters)
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Taylor-Mania Hits Tokyo as Swift Resumes Tour Before Super Bowl 

A Taylor Swift fan from Hong Kong poses for a photo in front of the venue of Taylor Swift's international tour named "The Eras Tour" in Tokyo, Japan February 7, 2024. (Reuters)
A Taylor Swift fan from Hong Kong poses for a photo in front of the venue of Taylor Swift's international tour named "The Eras Tour" in Tokyo, Japan February 7, 2024. (Reuters)

Taylor Swift will celebrate making Grammys history with a run of concerts in Tokyo starting Wednesday, kicking off a month of sell-out shows in Asia that will include a quick run home to see her boyfriend contest the US Super Bowl.

Excited fans queued in the cold from morning to buy merchandise at Tokyo Dome before the four shows, part of the megastar's global Eras Tour -- the first billion-dollar-tour ever.

"It's us, hi! We are Swifties from Taiwan!" read a huge fabric banner featuring 10 pictures of Swift's face, held up by a group of fans outside the 55,000-capacity arena.

Results of a hotly contested ticket lottery for Swift's Japan dates were announced in July, with some fans travelling to Tokyo, even if the tour was coming to them.

"We came just for the concert as we couldn't get tickets in Australia," laughed 18-year-old Ebony Donohue.

"I'm so excited to finally see her. All her music is so different. She's so relatable, and strong and amazing."

Other fans from places Swift won't stop this time, including Thailand, the Philippines and China, joined the vast crowd which gathered in the afternoon before the gig.

Some donned tassels, bright sequins and high-heeled boots in homage to their favorite Swift looks, while others came dressed as unicorn angels or wore official tour T-shirts.

Saya Matsuo, 25, told AFP he had been waiting years for this moment.

"I've been listening to her songs since I was in middle school, about 10 years. This is the first time I'll see her in concert, and I've been so excited since the moment we were able to get tickets," he said.

"She is someone who can grab people's hearts, make people sing and dance. I love her personality."

Swift-mania has reached fever pitch worldwide after the 34-year-old on Sunday scooped her fourth Album of the Year prize at the Grammys on Sunday.

That is the most held by any artist and breaks the joint record of three previously held by Swift and the likes of Frank Sinatra, Paul Simon and Stevie Wonder.

Super Bowl dash

Straight after her last Tokyo concert wraps up on Saturday, Swift will make a pit stop at this weekend's Super Bowl, where she is expected to cheer on her current beau Travis Kelce of the Kansas City Chiefs from the VIP suites.

The pop icon will then play dates in Australia and Singapore before heading to Europe on the tour that is predicted to make a staggering estimated $2 billion.

An influx of fans to the concerts has been shown to create a so-called "Swift effect" on local economies.

Travel technology company Amadeus reported an "extraordinary increase in interest" in search traffic for travel to cities in the Asia-Pacific region visited on the Eras Tour.

Cheska Caberte, 25, from the Philippines, told AFP she had been planning her trip for six months.

Wearing a fluffy bright pink jacket and matching heart-shaped shades, Caberte she was "really excited" to meet other "Swifties", as the star's fans are known.

Did she think her idol will make the Super Bowl in time? "She can go back right away, no sweat -- it's Taylor Swift."

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Entertainment

‘Wicked’ and ‘Gladiator’ Make Gravity-Defying Theater Debuts

People wait to watch a screening of the film "Wicked" at the TCL Chinese Theater in Los Angeles, California, US, November 23, 2024. (Reuters)
People wait to watch a screening of the film "Wicked" at the TCL Chinese Theater in Los Angeles, California, US, November 23, 2024. (Reuters)
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‘Wicked’ and ‘Gladiator’ Make Gravity-Defying Theater Debuts

People wait to watch a screening of the film "Wicked" at the TCL Chinese Theater in Los Angeles, California, US, November 23, 2024. (Reuters)
People wait to watch a screening of the film "Wicked" at the TCL Chinese Theater in Los Angeles, California, US, November 23, 2024. (Reuters)

With a combined $270 million in worldwide ticket sales, “Wicked” and “Gladiator II” breathed fresh life into a box office that has struggled lately, leading to one of the busiest moviegoing weekends of the year.

Jon M. Chu’s lavish big-budget musical “Wicked,” starring Ariana Grande and Cynthia Erivo, debuted with $114 million domestically and $164.2 million globally for Universal Pictures, according to studio estimates Sunday. That made it the third-biggest opening weekend of the year, behind only “Deadpool & Wolverine” and “Inside Out 2.” It’s also a record for a Broadway musical adaptation.

Ridley Scott’s “Gladiator II,” a sequel to his 2000 best picture-winning original, launched with $55.5 million in ticket sales. With a price tag of around $250 million to produce it, “Gladiator II” was a big bet by Paramount Pictures to return to the Coliseum with a largely new cast, led by Denzel Washington and Paul Mescal. While it opened with a touch less than the $60 million predicted in domestic ticket sales, “Gladiator II” has performed well overseas. It added $50.5 million internationally.

Going into the weekend, box office was down about 11% from last year and some 25% from pre-pandemic times. That meant this week's two headline films led a much-needed resurgence for theaters. With “Moana 2” releasing Wednesday, Hollywood might be looking at historic sales over the Thanksgiving holiday.

“This weekend’s two strong openers are invigorating a box office that fell apart after a good summer,” said David A. Gross, a film consultant who publishes a newsletter for Franchise Entertainment.

The collision of the two movies led to some echoes of the “Barbenheimer” effect of last year, when “Barbie" and “Oppenheimer” launched simultaneously. The nickname this time, “Glicked,” wasn’t quite as catchy and the cultural imprint was also notably less. Few people sought out a double feature this time. The domestic grosses in 2023 – $162 million for “Barbie” and $82 million for “Oppenheimer” – were also higher.

But the counter-programming effect was still potent for “Wicked” and “Gladiator II,” which likewise split broadly along gender lines. And it was again the female-leaning release – “Wicked,” like “Barbie” before it – that easily won the weekend. About 72% of ticket buyers for “Wicked” were female, while 61% of those seeing “Gladiator II” were male.

And while “Barbenheimer” benefitted enormously from meme-spread word-of-mouth, both “Wicked” and “Gladiator II” leaned on all-out marketing blitzes.

Both movies pulled out all the stops in global advertising campaigns that spanned everything from “Wicked” Mattel dolls (some of which led to an awkward recall) to an Airbnb cross-promotion with the actual Colosseum in Rome. For “Gladiator II,” Paramount even took the unusual step of simultaneously running a one-minute trailer on more than 4,000 TV networks, radio station and digital platforms.

Though “Wicked” will face some direct competition from “Moana 2,” it would seem to be better set up for a long and lucrative run in theaters. Even at 2 hours and 40 minutes, the film has had mostly stellar reviews. Audiences gave it an “A” on CinemaScore. The reception for “Wicked” has been strong enough that Oscar prognosticators expect it to be a contender for best picture at the Academy Awards, among other categories.

Producers, perhaps sensing a hit, also took the step of splitting “Wicked” in two. Part two, already filmed, is due out next November. Each “Wicked” installation cost around $150 million to make.

“Gladiator II” has also enjoyed good reviews, particularly for Washington's charismatic performance. Audience scores, though, were weaker, with ticket buyers giving it a “B” on CinemaScore. “Gladiator II” will make up for some of that, however, with robust international sales. It launched in many overseas markets a week ago, earning $87 million before landing in North America.