Blu-ray Sales: Beginning of the End for Batman?
August 15, 2012
It looks like the Batman films will finally be slipping out of the top five in the coming weeks. Batman Begins came in first place in terms of units topping Hatfields & McCoys 192,000 units to 186,000 units. However, Hatfields & McCoys easily won in terms of revenue with $4.63 million to $1.91 million. Its opening week Blu-ray share was 34%, which is good for a TV mini-series, but below average for the format.
The Dark Knight fell to third place with 167,000 units / $2.29 million. The film is climbing towards 8 million units sold, which would make it the first film to get there. Mission: Impossible - Ghost Protocol was next in fourth place with 92,000 units / $1.23 million for the week giving it a total of 2.49 million units / $50.82 million after nearly four months of release. Total Recall: Mind Bending Addition opened in fifth place with 86,000 units / $1.50 million.
There was only one other new release to chart. LOL debuted in 24th place with 12,000 units / $222,000. Its opening week Blu-ray share was just 10%, which is very low for the format. However, it was aimed at a target demographic that tends to buy DVD over Blu-ray by a much greater degree, plus it was a direct-to-DVD release. Both of these hurt Blu-ray share.
None of the new releases to chart were first run releases and this lead to a decline the overall Blu-ray sales. The market was down from last week by 21% in terms of units and 28% in terms of revenue. Additionally, the revenue was 1% lower than last year, even though 13% more units were sold. DVD sales were flat compared to last week, down less than 1% in terms of revenue, up less that 1% in terms of units. It was down much more sharply compared to last year, falling 32% in terms of units and 31% in terms of revenue. The overall Blu-ray share was lower than last week, but still strong at 43% in terms of units and 49% in terms of revenue.
Next week's new releases are not terrible with the release of The Lorax, which could have a chance to sell 1 million units. On the other hand, there are not a lot of other new releases beyond that. Last year, Rio led the way with just 195,000 units while Paul was the best new release at 171,000 units. The Lorax should sell more than both of those combined. It might sell more than the total market sold last year (about 916,000 units).
Filed under: Video Sales, The Dark Knight, Batman Begins, Total Recall, Mission: Impossible—Ghost Protocol, LOL