Though Mary said she’s not a big drinker, she felt compelled to order whichever specialty Swift cocktail Kevin suggested most, which was the most “alcohol-forward” aforementioned Glitter Bomb. As the minutes counted down to 3 p.m., there was a giddy tipsiness in the air, with glitter-speckled women squealing in excitement and frantically mobbing to use the restroom before Swift appeared onscreen.
The Friday showings were by far the busiest, says Kevin; Saturday was slower than he thought it would be, both at the bar and at the theater as a whole. But the crowds picked up again on Sunday, with Swifties pouring into seats in a post-brunch haze. The Sunday screening I caught also felt boozier than the Friday premiere, with audience members dancing in their seats and laughing loudly at Swift’s explanation of her new song “Wood” (it’s allegedly about superstition, and not her fiancé Travis Kelce’s, ahem, appendage). One woman teared up at the lyrics to “Eldest Daughter,” wiping her face with bulk napkins from the concession stand. The crowd chanted the choruses of both “Cancelled!” and “Honey,” and screamed to correct the cleaned-up lyrics of “Father Figure”—the kid-friendly version replaces “dick’s bigger” with “check’s bigger”—and “Actually Romantic,” where the clean version replaces “It’s kind of making me wet” with “It’s kind of making me sweat.”
No one in either screening I attended sat through the credits, opting to leave the moment that the “Opalite” track video closed out the movie. Glitter and popcorn bags littered the floor, forgotten in the haze of a post-Official Release event Swiftdom high—or maybe as a purposeful nod to the “Opalite” lyrics about not digging through the trash.
Regardless of fallen feathers, Swift—like Nicole Kidman—seems to be another patron saint of AMC. It was an “honor, privilege, and joy” for the theater to host the Official Release event, the chain said in an official statement. “On behalf of AMC Theatres and the entire theatrical exhibition industry, I extend our sincerest appreciation to the iconic Taylor Swift for bringing her brilliance and magic to movie theatres this weekend,” CEO Adam Aron said Sunday. Joseph agrees: “Everyone was really friendly. Horror fans get more rowdy.” Alas, those who didn’t catch Showgirl won’t get another chance this weekend, as it was in theaters for three days only—which doesn’t bother Kevin, at least. He’s more of a Metallica guy, anyway.
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