One Maine Movie Theater is Refusing to Show the Taylor Swift Concert Movie

It's been highly anticipated (and sold out) since it was first announced -- not only has Taylor Swift's Eras Tour taken the country (and next month when she kicks off her international leg of the tour, the entire world) by storm, but it's now taking movie theaters by storm as well.

Taylor Swift: The Eras Tour

Today, Friday, October 13, 2023, in conjunction with Taylor's lucky number of "13" (and quite possibly what she may consider her lucky day by default, being Friday the 13th,) Taylor Swift: The Eras Tour opens in theaters across the country.

All except for one movie theater here in Maine.

Narrow Gauge Cinemas in Farmington, Maine

Earlier this week, the owner of Narrow Gauge Cinemas in Farmington, Maine, for over three decades, John Moore, took to the theater's official Facebook page to announce that, despite what every other theater in Maine is doing, there will be no showing of Taylor Swift: The Eras Tour at his theater.

And it's nothing personal, it's just business -- the business model and integrity that he has kept in place since day one when he opened the theater 36 years ago. And that business model is to give customers as enjoyable an experience with a night out at the movies as possible while keeping as much money as possible in their bank accounts.

Addressing the reasoning behind the decision to not show the concert movie at his theater, John mentioned the biggest issue is the price point being dictated by the distributor/releasing agent, something Narrow Gauge Cinemas has agreed to do.

For this picture the agent is setting the price of $19.89 for adults and $13.13 for children.  This is almost triple our normal price for a movie about a concert tour that has already grossed over a billion dollars in ticket sales.

There is also the issue that due to the price point being dictated, Narrow Gauge Cinemas would not be able to accept the discount tickets they provide due to the fact that they would lose about $6 in film rental dues they must pay.

Many theaters have decided to not accept any discount tickets for this very reason. To me this is not fair to the customer who bought the tickets in good faith that they would be accepted for any movie. Our gift certificates say good for one movie period-not good for one movie most of the time.

In his full statement on the official Facebook page for Narrow Gauge Cinemas, John mentions that he knows his decision may disappoint many; however, something needs to be said for the fact that in a situation where the theater could've made a stupid amount of money, John decided to stick to what has kept him in business for 36 years.

Here's hoping the love John clearly has for the Farmington community and Maine overall is returned to him multiple times over for this decision to look out for Mainers' wallets.

Because looking out for each other is truly the 207 way -- the way life should be.