Blu-ray Sales: Battle Earns Victory on High Definition
June 29, 2011
Battle: Los Angeles was just able to squeak ahead of True Grit on this week's Blu-ray sales chart with 375,000 units sold for opening week sales of $8.71 million. Its opening week Blu-ray sales ratio was 47% in terms of units and 54% in terms of dollars. It won't be long before visual effects laden blockbusters commonly sell more Blu-rays than DVDs.
True Grit slipped to second place with 372,000 units for the week and totals of 1.04 million units / $17.65 million after two. Back to the Future Box Set climbed into third place with 138,000 units / $3.56 million for the week, but the sale appears to be over now. A couple more new releases rounded out the top five with Hall Pass opening in fourth place with 87,000 units / $1.86 million. Its Blu-ray ratio was just 33% in terms of units, but that's better than average for a comedy. Red Riding Hood earned fifth place with 82,000 units / $1.49 million, giving it an opening week ratio of 29%. Given its target demographic, this is an strong start.
The only other new release to chart was Big Mommas: Like Father, Like Son, which placed 15th with 18,000 units / $419,000. Its opening Blu-ray ratio was really weak at just 15%, but it was the wrong genre, the wrong target demographic, and too much of a second-tier release to thrive on High Definition.
A strong one-two punch helped the overall Blu-ray sales grow by 7% in terms of units and 6% in terms of dollars when compared to last week. Compared to last year, Blu-ray sales were higher by 67% in terms of units and 55% in terms of dollars. This growth happened despite the fact that DVD sales were stronger last year. This led to overall Blu-ray ratios of 36% in terms of units and 41% in terms of dollars, which are incredible figures. When this year's Christmas sales rush starts and summer blockbusters start coming out, we could see weeks where Blu-rays generate more revenue that DVDs.
Filed under: Video Sales, Back to the Future, Back to the Future Part II, Back to the Future Part III, Battle: Los Angeles, True Grit, Big Mommas: Like Father, Like Son, Red Riding Hood, Hall Pass