Movie theater spend accelerates following Taylor Swift’s album release, according to Consumer Edge Transaction data.

Taylor Swift announced the debut of her latest album, “The Life of a Showgirl,” on Friday, September 19th. In conjunction with its upcoming release on October 3rd, movie theaters across the US will host release parties, with ticket presales starting immediately following the announcement. Consumer Edge US credit and debit card transaction data reveals that consumer spend on movie theaters grew over 30% year-over-year. What’s more, this pace significantly exceeds the average low-single digit year-over-year growth rate in movie theater spend for Fridays in 2025.

Regal Cinemas Disproportionately Benefited from the Announcement

The album release parties have accelerated growth rates across all major movie theater brands. That said, the acceleration in growth rates has not been proportionate. By comparing year-over-year growth rates for September 19th vs all other Fridays in 2025, Consumer Edge data reveals that Regal Cinemas has disproportionately benefited from the announcement. While Cinemark trails AMC Theatres in year-over-year growth rate acceleration, the two brands are performing very closely in actuality. Across the Fridays so far in 2025, Cinemark’s year-over-year growth rates have by far been the strongest, so the Swift launch didn’t have as dramatic an impact on its growth.

Targeting Swifties Attracts a New Audience to the Movies

The release parties are not only changing the trajectories for movie theater brands in 2025, but they are also targeting a largely untapped customer base. Only 2% of the Swifties who transacted with a movie theater from September 19th-21st also transacted with a theater in 2024. Unsurprisingly, these customers skew significantly younger than the average US consumer. Nearly half of Swifties1 are 34 or younger, compared to approximately a third of US consumers. Although they skew younger, Swifties also skew slightly higher income, making this cohort of shopper lucrative to target and appealing for brand partnerships.

Analyze the latest in consumer spend trends across this industries, brands, and customer cohorts with Consumer Edge data.

Jesse Waldvogel

is the Director of Insights for the CEIC. Explore more of his insights here.

Michael Gunther

is the SVP, Research & Market Intelligence at Consumer Edge. Explore more of his insights here.

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