Taylor Swift's Showgirl promotional film collects $42m in North America

Taylor Swift pulverised the Rock at the weekend box office.

- Brooks Barnes

The Official Release Party Of A Showgirl, essentially an 89-minute commercial for the American singer’s latest album The Life Of A Showgirl, sold an estimated US$33 million (S$42 million) in tickets at cinemas in the United States and Canada from Oct 3 through Oct 5, according to Comscore, which compiles box-office data.

Less a movie than a collection of bonus features on a DVD, The Official Release Party played in 3,702 cinemas and was easily No. 1.

The audience for the not-quite-a-movie was roughly 88 per cent female and 70 per cent white, according to PostTrak, a film industry research service.

Critics did not review The Official Release Party, but Swift’s fans loved what they saw. They gave it an A+ grade in CinemaScore exit polls.