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KEY TAKEAWAYS
- Taylor Swift’s Eras Tour concert film will debut exclusively on Disney+ on March 15.
- No financial details of Disney’s deal were disclosed.
- Disney shares surged Thursday on market-beating results and deals with Fortnite’s maker Epic Games and a sports app venture by its ESPN unit with Fox and Warner Bros Discovery.
Disney (DIS) has struck a deal to stream an exclusive version of Taylor Swift’s Eras Tour concert film on Disney+, the entertainment giant said Wednesday, as part of a string of moves by Chief Executive Officer Bob Iger to widen the company’s appeal.
The film will be shown on the platform on March 15, Disney said, and will feature the concert in its entirety as well as five songs not shown in the theaters.
Disney didn’t disclose the financial details of the licensing deal.
The music superstar’s film has collected more than $261.6 million at the global box office. That makes it the top selling concert film of all time, surpassing previous record-holder Michael Jackson’s This is It in 2009, theater chain AMC Entertainment Holdings (AMC), which is distributing the movie, said last month.
Disney shares surged Thursday, after the company announced better-than-expected results and two other transactions that move the company beyond its legacy operations: A $1.5 billion investment in Fortnite maker Epic Games and a sports app to be set up by its ESPN unit with Fox (FOXA) and Warner Bros. Discovery (WBD) .
Disney shares were 12.5% higher at $111.50 per share as of 11:50 a.m. ET Thursday and are now up 23% since the start of the year.