AMC Boss Adam Aron promised that he’d be releasing more concert pics, and now the No. 1 theater circuit in the world is teaming with Trafalgar Releasing and Sony Music Vision to release Usher: Rendezvous in Paris on Sept. 12 for a limited 4-day weekend global run.
The movie, which captured the 8x Grammy winner during Paris Fashion week at La Seine Musicale, will be booked at 2,000 cinemas around the globe, including 1,000 theaters stateside. Directed by Anthony Mandler, the film will play at AMC and Odeon locations, and many other locations globally. Interestingly enough, Trafalgar had Sept. 12 reserved on the Comscore release calendar for an untitled event film.
Unlike AMC’s first concert movie release, Taylor Swift: The Eras Tour, which arrived last October as a miracle to an event pic-starved theatrical marketplace straddled by the actors strike (opening to $93.2M stateside, and grossing $180.7M domestic, $267M global), Usher: Rendezvous in Paris arrives at an extremely competitive time at the domestic B.O., specifically in the wake of Warner Bros.’ Beetlejuice, Beetlejuice (Sept. 6), which is expected to be huge. Usher: Rendezvous in Paris will open up against such rival wide entries as Lionsgate’s Dave Bautista action comedy The Killer’s Game and Blumhouse/Universal’s Speak No Evil. While Eras Tour was the envy of many motion picture studios who lost out on bidding for the movie, AMC’s immediate concert follow-up pic, Renaissance: A Film by Beyonce, wasn’t as robust, opening in early December, a dead-time at the box office to $21.8M and fizzling to $33.9M domestic, $44M WW.
Usher: Rendezvous in Paris includes the 80M record selling performer’s chart-topping hits including “Yeah!”, “My Boo”, “Love In This Club” and more from his three-decade career. In addition to the lavish stage performance on screen, the movie will also reportedly have a docu-sensibility to it, similar to Renaissance.
Worldwide screening details and ticketing will be available at UsherinParis.com on August 6 at 9:00 a.m. ET / 6:00 a.m. PT.
“Paris was a special experience for me as an entertainer and for my fans,” said Usher. “I hope those who weren’t able to make it in person get to experience how special it was. As for those of you who were, I hope you experience the show and see what it takes to get there through a different lens.”
“For 30 years Usher has captivated and entertained audiences through his music and concerts. Just a few months ago, he drew rave reviews for his stunning performance in front of 129 million people during the Super Bowl Half Time Show. Bringing his unparalleled concert experience to movie theatres for his fans around the world is a perfect fit for AMC Theatres Distribution,” said Adam Aron, Chairman and CEO, AMC Theatres.
Marc Allenby, CEO, Trafalgar Releasing, adds “We are excited to continue our partnership with Sony Music Vision and AMC Theatres Distribution to bring the energy of Usher to movie theater audiences around the world. He is the perfect artist to support our shared vision of creating global experiences around concert films for artists that advance the evolution of the cinema into venues for all forms of entertainment.”
The concert film will be released in the U.S. and globally by Trafalgar Releasing, in partnership with AMC Theatres Distribution. AMC and ODEON will provide core marketing support for the film in the U.S. and international markets. Sony Music Vision is the distributor of all rights excluding theatrical.
Usher: Rendezvous in Paris is a production of Arcovision, Kingdom Films and Laffitte Group Productions. The film is produced by Mandler, Usher Raymond and Ron Laffitte. Executive Producers for Kingdom Films are Aakomon Jones and Angelo Gopee. Executive Producer for Arcovision is Kwesi Collisson. Executive Producers for Sony Music are Tom Mackay, Richard Story and Krista Wegener.