Sparkles, cowgirl boots and Taylor Swift souvenir popcorn buckets were the accessories for those who made it to the Thursday night movie screening of the singer’s highly anticipated film, “Taylor Swift: The Eras Tour.”
While the film was set to be officially released on Friday, Ms. Swift revealed with a Wednesday Instagram post that, “due to unprecedented demand,” Thursday evening showings would be available in the U.S. and Canada, with tickets going on sale at 10 a.m. that same day.
At the AMC Empire 25 in Times Square ahead of the weekend’s sold-out showtimes, fans trickled in slowly, but that didn’t stop some Swifties from showing off their “Eras”-inspired wardrobe.
“I was very excited that Taylor actually opened it up so that we can see it today,” said Tasha Lynch, who was visiting from Florida. Ms Lynch, 31, is a nurse who is visiting New York ahead of a trip to Paris this weekend, but as a true fan of Ms. Swift, she just so happened to be prepared. She showed up to the movie theater by herself in a “Lover”-era influenced shimmering pink dress completed by a bag of friendship bracelets inspired by Ms. Swift’s lyrics.
As more fans showed up — most with the official gray Eras Tour T-shirt — Seana Slattery and Riley Keohane, friends from Marymount Manhattan College, opted for a more elegant yet somber look with dresses that are reflective of the music found on the albums “Folklore” and “Reputation.”
“I’m giving a ‘Mirrorball’ moment, which is a ‘Folklore’ song — Track 6 — it’s my favorite song on that album,” Ms. Keohane said, who didn’t have the chance to see this tour live (blame last year’s presale Ticketmaster fiasco), but came to the screening.
Some die-hard fans showed up only to have a chance to be one of the first to collect official Taylor Swift memorabilia at the concession stands.
Liam Speranza and Derek Mong didn’t come to sit through the movie (they had just finished a SoulCycle class), but wanted to get their Taylor Swift merchandise before it sold out.
“This stuff is for sure going to be gone by this weekend so we had to get it,” Mr. Speranza said as he juggled a popcorn bucket and cup. He had already bought tickets for a Sunday showing of the film when the first wave were initially released last month.
Though the megaplex in Times Square is used to being a hub of activity, the last-minute announcement of earlier showtimes — and the fact that many had already bought tickets for the weekend — made the turnout seem more like a private viewing party. And Swifties took advantage of it.
Marco Zefi, an engineer from Queens, and Liz Burg, a user-interface artist designer who lives in Midtown Manhattan, made sure to grab their picture in the lobby before entering the auditorium. The two opted to wear gray as Ms. Burg wore a “Reputation”-era T-shirt and Mr. Zefi had on his “Speak Now”-era T-shirt. He also brought a Taylor Swift tote bag from her re-release of the album “Red.”
The friends said they met almost 10 years ago in Ms. Swift’s New York apartment after winning tickets for a secret listening session party ahead of the release of her “1989” album. They recently made it to the tour’s opening night this spring in Arizona.
“Taylor had just released ‘Shake It Off’ and she ordered us all pizza,” Ms. Burg said. “It was that time when she went pop and New York was such a part of her album. Mark and I have since been friends and have traveled together to see most of her tours.”
