Confirming a widely held fan theory, Taylor Swift has finally announced that she will be releasing a six-part Ellas Tour documentary series.
The singer-songwriter (unsurprisingly) shared the news on “Good Morning America” on Oct. 13.
“This was the end of an era, and we knew it. We wanted to remember every moment leading up to the most important and intense chapter of our lives, so we allowed the filmmakers to capture this tour and all the stories woven into its conclusion. And we allowed them to film the entire final show,” Swift said in a post for X.
The singer-songwriter revealed that the long-awaited behind-the-scenes footage will be released alongside the first two episodes on Disney+ and Hulu on December 12th. The docuseries, titled Taylor Swift | The Elus Tour | The End of an Era, will be released alongside the film Taylor Swift | The Elus Tour | The Final Show, which features the Tortured Poets section of her blockbuster concert.
After that, two episodes will be distributed every week.
The series spotlights the cast, including Gracie Abrams, Sabrina Carpenter, Ed Sheeran, and Florence Welch (see the cast here), their families, and friends.
The announcement comes shortly after GMA, which along with the streaming service is owned by Disney, released a trailer teasing the documentary series on October 12th. The final slide displayed the logos of the two streamers, leaving little doubt as to where the footage would be distributed.
This is the singer’s third project with Disney, following 2020’s Folklore: The Long Pond Studio Sessions and 2023’s concert film Ellas Tour.
Swift revealed for the first time on ABC’s morning show that she will be embarking on a career-spanning tour.
“I’ve wanted to tell you that I’ve been so excited for a really long time, and I’ve been planning this for years, but I can finally tell you that I’m going back on the road. This tour is called the Elas Tour, and it’s a journey through all the musical eras of my career,” she said in November 2022.
“I feel like I’ve seen this movie before.”
In fact, it turns out that the “Exile” singer was setting the stage for her role in the movie long before “The Life of a Showgirl” was released. Cameras began rolling in August 2024 in London, where she premiered the music video for “I Can Do It With a Broken Heart.” The three-minute reel gave fans a peek behind the velvet curtain, from Swift jumping into a trap door on stage to hiding in her now-iconic cleaning cart before each show.
But this video only scratched the surface. Fans witnessed film staff following her to and from the stage. The same work could have been produced when she returned to North America in the fall of 2024, capturing the following scenes. Travis Kelce shares a quick hug with his publicist in Indianapolis, a photographer from the “Folklore” cottage crouches in a secluded spot in Indianapolis, and a lucky Miami fan chosen for a “22” hat moment.
Swift’s mother, Andrea, also captured close-ups of Swift, stacks of bracelets, and more while spreading the word of friendship at Hard Rock Stadium.
In Swift’s “For a Fortnight Challenge” video posted on YouTube, she hinted at a possible documentary that includes rare rehearsal footage and previously unreleased “Tortured Poets” set footage.
By the time the tour reached Vancouver, the final stop on the Elas tour, the stage was lit up with two high-altitude cameras, a jib arm, a camera truck rotating along the stage, and microphones pointed at the audience. A sign warning against the use of drones was also posted on the door of BC Place Stadium.
“This is very serious,” concertgoer Addie Miller pointed out in X.
taylor swift movies and documentaries
Swift has produced and directed many of her own visuals, from All Too Well: The Short Film to Netflix’s Reputation Stadium Tour. Here’s a look back at some of her concert films and documentaries.
2023: “The Eras Tour” at AMC Theaters, Disney+
The first year of the three-hour show is available to stream on Disney+.
The film was shot during three concerts in Los Angeles in 2023 and provides the first version of the concerts before Swift disrupted the era by adding the “Tortured Poet” set. The film grossed over $250 million worldwide and was nominated for a Golden Globe Award.
Swift struck a deal with the union during the SAG-AFTRA strike to bypass traditional studios and partner with AMC Theaters Distribution for theatrical release.
2020: “Folklore: The Long Pond Studio Sessions” on Disney+
In 2020, Taylor Swift released two surprise sister albums and then invited fans into her creative world with Disney+’s Folklore: The Long Pond Studio Sessions. The 106-minute documentary, directed and produced by Swift, was shot at Aaron Dessner’s secluded Long Pond Studios in New York’s Hudson Valley.
Sitting next to Dessner and Jack Antonoff, she told the stories behind each song on her Grammy-winning eighth album, Folklore.
“I started writing a new album out of the blue,” Swift said. “I was just writing songs during quarantine, and the album came together pretty quickly.”
2020: “City of Lover” Concert
In September 2019, Swift brought her seventh studio album, Lover, to life with an intimate, hour-long concert in front of 2,000 fans in Paris.
She was scheduled to begin her seventh tour with Lover Fest, a four-date extravaganza scheduled for Boston and Los Angeles. But that dream was shelved when the coronavirus pandemic shut down live music. Instead, Swift released a 42-minute TV special in May 2020 featuring eight stripped-down acoustic songs.
2020: “Miss Americana” on Netflix
Miss Americana, titled after track 7 of Lover, premiered on Netflix on January 31, 2020. The documentary brings to a close one of Taylor Swift’s most vulnerable chapters, as she grapples with fame, body image issues and the pressure to please everyone, embraces her voice in LGBTQ+ advocacy, and confronts online toxicity.
“No one had physically seen me for a year,” Swift admitted. “And I thought that’s what they wanted. I had to dismantle my entire belief system. I had to throw it away and reject it.”
2018: “Reputation Stadium Tour” on Netflix
Taylor Swift’s concert film ‘Reputation Stadium Tour’, filmed in Arlington, Texas, captures the singer at her most intense. She brought her sixth album to life with a 30-foot inflatable cobra named Karin.
Swift took moments for introspection between songs, including, “I think the things that scare us the most in life are the things we think threaten our prospects of finding the real thing. Having a bad reputation in our hearts can get in the way of finding real friendships, real love, real acceptance, finding someone who’s truly right for you.”
It appears that this concert film is no longer available on Netflix.
2015: “1989 World Tour Live”
The footage, which shows Swift in her fifth era, 1989, was filmed in Sydney, Australia in November 2015. The concert film was released on Apple Music less than a month later, on December 20th. Running for just over two hours, the film included rehearsal footage, interviews, and backstage clips.
2011: “Speak Now World Tour Live”
A third era of fantasy filled with enchanting encounters and surprises, Swift’s label Big Machine Records released a film in November 2011 that included footage shot at multiple shows. The label also released an album featuring a live performance of the singer sporting the famous “13” written in Sharpie on the back of her hand.
2010: “Journey to Fearless”
“Journey to Fearless” follows Swift’s second tour. The three 135-minute episodes followed a young girl fearlessly chasing her big dreams. The film included 13 live numbers, home movies, interviews, and behind-the-scenes footage.
“That arena sold out in two minutes,” the young Swift said, before exclaiming, “What?!”
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Taylor Swift reporter Brian West on Instagram, TikTok, and X as @BryanWestTV.
