Blu-ray Sales: Ring Sucker Punches New Releases
July 12, 2011
While it's not common for a box set to lead the way on the Blu-ray sales chart, it is also no real surprise that Lord of the Rings: Extended Edition Trilogy managed to do just that, as it was clearly the biggest new release of the week. It took top spot with sales of 336,000 units, and thanks to its premium pricing, it generated $25.21 million in opening week consumer spending.
It towered over its nearest competitor, Sucker Punch, which was a hit on high definition in its own right. With Blu-ray sales of 266,000 units, 49% of all units sold were in High Definition, while going by dollars, Blu-ray brought in 58% of all revenue. Granted, this was the perfect type of film to do well on Blu-ray, so one should temper one's enthusiasm somewhat. But with that in mind, its success still bodes well for this summer's collection of blockbusters. I wouldn't be surprised if Thor, for instance, sold more copies on Blu-ray than it does on DVD. As for the rest of the Blu-ray chart, it was less successful. Season of the Witch managed just 98,000 units / $2.25 million in opening week sales. Its Blu-ray ratio was 27% and it is hard to find a positive spin on that number. Battle: Los Angeles held on well, down one spot to fourth with 55,000 units for the week and 474,000 units after three; its running tally is now $10.45 million. Unknown rounded out the top five with 42,000 units / $961,000 for the week and 141,000 units / $3.08 million after two.
The Warrior's Way was a box office bomb and missed the top ten on this week's DVD sales chart, but it was more robust on Blu-ray earning eighth place with 35,000 units / $829,000. An opening week Blu-ray ratio of 31% is acceptable, all things considered. Beastly was a mess with just 28,000 units sold, or roughly 16% of total sales. Even given the target demographic, this is a bad result.
One last note, while True Grit fell out of the top five, it still managed to sell its millionth unit on Blu-ray. Few Blu-ray releases have hit that milestone, so this is something worth celebrating.
As far as the overall Blu-ray market is concerned, it was a good week. That's a pretty serious understatement, as it was very strong in just about every conceivable comparison. Compared to last week, sales were up 79% in terms of units and 191% in terms of dollars. Compared to last year, it was also up 79% in terms of units and 168% in terms of dollars. Granted, Lord of the Rings: Extended Edition Trilogy alone generated more revenue than the entire market did either last week or last year, but even without that box set, there was still growth. Meanwhile, DVD sales were down compared to last year, which helped boost the Blu-ray ratio to 33% in terms of units and 49% in terms of dollars.
Filed under: The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King, The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers, The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring, Sucker Punch, Season of the Witch, Beastly, Battle: Los Angeles, True Grit, The Warrior's Way, Unknown