The Grove closed its doors and threw out a big red carpet for the world premiere of Taylor Swift’s “Eras Tour” concert film in Los Angeles on Wednesday night.

“I appreciate you being here because this night is a core memory for me and you’re a part of it,” Swift said introducing the highly-anticipated movie before a packed auditorium of Swifties, celebrities (and celebrity Swifties), including Beyoncé, Adam Sandler, Julia Garner, Maren Morris, Flava Flav, Karamo Brown, Hayley Kiyoko, Becca Tilley, Simu Liu, Molly Sims, Jennifer Meyer and Mariska Hargitay, as well as the Grove owner, Rick Caruso.

The open-air L.A. mall was closed down for the occasion, including all restaurants and shops, leaving plenty of room for Swifties dressed in their best “Bejeweled” outfits and friendship bracelets to line both sides of the red carpet and scream the lyrics to Swift’s latest hit, “Cruel Summer.” When Variety pulled into the parking garage, “Fearless” was screaming through the speakers instead of the customary Frank Sinatra standards.

Then, shortly before 6 p.m., Swift appeared on the red carpet, dressed in a stunning tanzanite Oscar de la Renta gown (she’s in her “1989” phase, after all), garnished with a diamond necklace and a dazzling curly bob.’

In preparation for the event, some streets surrounding the commercial mall were closed for much of Wednesday, with security directing attendees to a single entrance. However, enormous throngs formed on streets and crosswalks craning to catch a glimpse of Swift. For hours, news helicopters circled overhead.

Fans screamed with delight as the pop queen posed for photos with her tour dancers in front of the AMC banner. The crowd grew louder as Swift walked down the red carpet, posing for pictures, signing autographs, and accepting friendship bracelets.

Swift was joined at the premiere by cinematographer Sam Wrench, whose team documented Swift’s huge concert at SoFi Stadium in Inglewood over three nights in August.

The “Eras Tour” film took over 13 AMC cinemas, where customers were treated to free candies, beverages, sodas, and popcorn from a communal bucket. Swift addressed the theaters individually after the carpet, offering three-minute addresses.

“Every single person in this theater has been hand-selected and hand-picked and invited to this night because you’ve shown some sort of extra type of support for this tour, and I appreciate that more than you could possibly know,” Swift began, standing at the front of the auditorium. “I’m always looking out for people with elevated levels of passion, incredible senses of humor on the internet, and attention to detail. These things are very important to me. So thank you for everything you’ve done that just got us all in this one room.”

Swift then marveled over the experience she’s had on the road this time around, adding, “I’ve always had fun doing this. I can’t believe I get to do music as a career — that’s crazy. I’ve never had this much fun in my life as I have had on the ‘Eras Tour.’ It is far and away just the most electric experience of my life.”

The reason for that, she explained, was due in large part to her band, dancers and crew, who were seated in the various theater rooms.

“We did this show rain or shine, in sickness and in health, no matter what was going on in our lives. And we did it with a grin on our face because of what greeted us on the other side,” Swift continued. “What you guys were doing in the audience — the amount of care and preparation and passion [and] intensity that you put into coming to these shows. … You pulled us out of anything rough that might have been going on in our lives. You let us forget about it for 3.5 hours every night on that stage. So thank you so much for doing that for us.”

As the audience cheered and applauded, Swift wrapped up her remarks: “I think the fans will see — and the dancers, you’ll all see — how much you are main characters in this film. And I love you so much. I appreciate you being here because this night it is a core memory for me and you’re a part of it. And you decided you wanted to spend your evening here with us. So I really hope you have fun. I hope you love it so much.”

Then, Swift made her way to a final theater where another contingent of Variety reporters were stationed.

“Hi, so you’re stuck with me cuz I’m gonna sit with you and watch this thing,” Swift told the group. “Let’s have a blast guys. Thank you for coming!” she concluded before taking a seat alongside her backup singers, Garner and family. While the film unraveled, Swift was spotted mimicking along to the hand choreography from “Willow,” and singing along to every word — other times she would point with her finger at something going on in the background or let out a laugh during the show’s quirkier notes.

The good spirits persisted throughout the showing, culminating in a full-fledged dance party to the film’s closer, “Karma.”

Swift stated about an hour before the L.A. premiere that the Eras Tour Concert film will be released a day early, with tickets going on sale at 10 a.m. on Thursday for screenings beginning at 6 p.m. that evening, due to “unprecedented demand.”

Swift captioned the post “premiere day,” saying, “I can’t fully wrap my brain around this but…. Look what you truly forced me to do: due to exceptional demand, we’re opening up early access screenings of The Eras Tour Concert Film across America and Canada on Thursday!! As in… today.”

The film, a cinematic recreation of Swift’s record-breaking three-hour stadium tour, will be shown in 3,850 theaters in the United States and is expected to gross at least $100 million at the domestic box office. According to some estimates, the launch might cost up to $125 million. Internationally, the film will be released in 4,150 theaters in 90 countries, with an estimated gross of $30 million to $50 million. That would place the film’s global debut between $150 and $175 million.

According to its official distributor AMC Theatres, the “Eras Tour” has already topped $100 million in advance ticket sales globally (domestic and foreign). The film broke AMC’s U.S. record for the most ticket sales income in a single day in the company’s 103-year history in less than 24 hours. This means it will be the highest-grossing concert film in history, breaking the previous record-holder, 2011’s “Justin Bieber: Never Say Never” ($99 million).

Swift released the concert film after closing up the tour’s run in the United States, though she has added North American dates for the fall of 2024. She’s presently in the midst of the trek’s foreign dates, with Asian and European travel planned for the coming year.