Blu-ray Sales: In the Driver's Seat
February 14, 2012
New releases dominated the Blu-ray sales chart with as many as four in the top five. (Transformers: Dark of the Moon is a bit of an odd case, but more on that in a second.) Drive led the way with 420,000 units / $8.39 million giving it an opening week Blu-ray share of 57%. This is a great opening compared to the film's theatrical run.
In Time also did better on Blu-ray than it did on DVD earning second place with 306,000 units / $6.12 million for an opening week Blu-ray share of 54%. This is the type of film that should thrive on Blu-ray, so it is no real surprise it cracked 50%. Transformers: Dark of the Moon returned to the chart in third place with 190,000 units / $3.82 million for the week giving it a total of 3.19 million units / $68.03 million. It was able to get back into the top five thanks to the release of the 3D Box Set, but we don't have a breakdown between the new release and the previous Blu-ray release. Real Steel fell from first to fourth with 187,000 units / $5.24 million for the week giving it totals of 989,000 units / $27.69 million after two. The Thing rounded out the top five with 168,000 units / $4.03 million, which was 55% of total units sold. Its theatrical run and its home market debut is weak, but that Blu-ray share is strong.
Treasure Buddies just missed the top five with 105,000 units / $2.66 million. Its opening Blu-ray share was 22%, which is low for the format as a whole, but strong for a live action kids' movie. Dream House managed ninth place, which is what it earn on the DVD sales chart as well. It sold 55,000 unit while generating $1.25 million in opening week sales giving it a Blu-ray share of just 38%. I was expecting more. To Kill a Mockingbird made its Blu-ray debut in tenth place with 43,000 units / $782,000. This is excellent for a catalog title and the studio should be very happy. Star Trek: The Next Generation also made its Blu-ray debut this week with The Next Level, which was right behind at 43,000 units / $648,000. This is excellent for a TV on DVD release, especially one that is this old and is merely a taste of future releases. The Big Year was further back in 14th place with 38,000 units / $894,000. Its hard to spin this number in a positive fashion, but its Blu-ray share of 31% is better than average for the genre. Finally, we get to The Double in 19th place with 26,000 units / $394,000. It also earned a Blu-ray share of 31%, but action films should perform better than that.
The overall Blu-ray was strong compared to last week and last year. It grew 16% in terms of units and 3% in terms of revenue from last week, which is actually a little weaker than DVD sales grew from last week. However, its growth was more explosive when compared to last year up 79% in terms of units and 78% in terms of dollars. As usual, DVD sales were lower than last year, albeit by a more modest margin than we've seen in the recent past. The overall Blu-ray share was mostly steady compared to last week sitting at 44% in terms of units and 49% in terms of revenue. If it can maintain that level while we wait for the winter blockbusters to come out, I will be very happy.
Next week we have good news / bad news. The good news is The Twilight Saga: Breaking Dawn, Part 1 comes out. The bad news is, The Twilight Saga: Breaking Dawn, Part 1 comes out. While the film should sell a lot of DVDs, I don't think its Blu-ray share will be great. Plus, it doesn't come out till Saturday, so only the first two days will count towards this week. On a more positive note, last year's new releases were terrible, both on DVD and on Blu-ray. In fact, the number one selling Blu-ray was Paranormal Activity 2 at just over 100,000 units. Breaking Dawn, Part 1 should top that. Hell, A Very Harold and Kumar Christmas could top that.
Filed under: Video Sales, To Kill A Mockingbird, Transformers: Dark of the Moon, The Thing, The Twilight Saga: Breaking Dawn, Part 1, The Big Year, Dream House, The Double, Drive, Real Steel, A Very Harold & Kumar 3D Christmas, Treasure Buddies, In Time