The Return Of Swiftie Mouse: Disney+ Lands ‘Taylor Swift: The Eras Tour (Taylor’s Version)’
It’s Mickey, hi, I’m the partner it’s me, restoring the five songs that were missing in previous versions
What a week. Taylor Swift won two Grammys for her latest album Midnights. Upon it winning Best Pop Vocal Album, she announced that it won’t be her latest album for long, with her next album The Tortured Poets Department dropping April 19. Midnights then won her fourth Album of the Year, setting the new record. Now, after her concert film Taylor Swift: The Eras Tour bypassed the studios for AMC exclusivity, she’s returning to Disney+ to stream the concert film with five songs restored to bring the concert itself to near entirety, a version of course branded “(Taylor’s Version)”.
The announcement came from Disney CEO Bob Iger during the company’s earnings call, that Taylor Swift: The Eras Tour (Taylor’s Version) will arrive on Disney+ on March 15, saying “The Eras Tour has been a true phenomenon that has and continues to thrill fans around the world, and we are very excited to bring this electrifying concert to audiences whenever they want, exclusively on Disney+.” Even Taylor acknowledged the week she had, posting to Instagram “This week is truly the best kind of chaos. I’m thrilled to let you know I’ve found a streaming home for The Eras Tour Concert Film, and that home will be disneyplus. For the first time we’ll be showing the entire concert (including ‘cardigan,’ plus 4 additional songs from the acoustic section!!) and I’m calling it, huge shock, ‘Taylor Swift | The Eras Tour (Taylor’s Version).’ Available starting March 15 which is actually very 🔜😆🫶” In addition to “Cardigan”, the four expected acoustic songs are “Death by a Thousand Cuts,” “Maroon,” “You Are in Love” and “I Can See You”, according to the setlists of the filmed August 3-5 shows at SoFi Stadium in Los Angeles that make the film.
Disney+ is currently the streaming home of Swift’s documentary performance film Folklore: The Long Pond Studio Sessions, which was released in 2020, and covered her recording of Folklore, which was two albums ago. Disney’s securing of streaming The Eras Tour cost them $75 million, beating Netflix and Universal Pictures. It was Universal who handled the film’s December 13 digital/VOD distribution and release, which put back “Wildest Dreams,” “The Archer” and “Long Live”. The theatrical release that began October 13 lacked all eight of these songs, still including 44 of the apparent 53 (there’s one song that has seemingly been missing from all three announced versions). The film made, $261.7 million at the global box office on top of the tour itself making $1 billion in gross ticket sales, expecting to reach $2 billion as the 2024 leg goes on.
