DVD Sales: Prince is the King of New Releases
September 28, 2010
New releases flooded the sales chart this week, taking the top nine spots, plus a couple more in the top 30. Leading the way was Prince of Persia: The Sands of Time with a disappointing opening week of 664,000 units and consumer spending at retail of $15.05 million.
It was relatively better on Blu-ray, however.
Letters to Juliet opened in second place with 486,000 units and $8.26 million, which is fine given the film's theatrical run. Barbie: A Fashion Fairytale opened in third place with $283,000 units / $3.95 million, which is huge for a direct-to-DVD franchise.
However, this has been one of the most impressive franchises in that regard and regularly places in the top 30. The Pick of the Week, The Big Bang Theory: Season Three, opened in fourth place with 251,000 units; however, it placed third in revenue with $7.27 million. Rounding out the top five was the first of two Glee releases, Season One, with 188,000 units / $6.56 million.
Just missing the top five was Grey's Anatomy: Season Six with 188,000 units, however, it placed fourth in terms of revenue with $7.27 million. Just Wright opened in seventh with 179,000 units / $3.41 million, which is about as weak as its theatrical run. Glee: Road to the Regionals opened in eighth place with 156,000 units / $3.96 million. Combined sales of the two DVDs would have placed the show in third place in terms of units and second in terms of revenue, which would have been worth more in terms of bragging rights. It's Always Sunny In Philadelphia: Season Five opened in ninth place with 137,000 units / $3.43 million.
Going further down the list we find Fringe: Season Two in 11th place with 96,000 units / $3.75 million. Finally we get to Scooby-Doo! Camp Scare in 17th place with 53,000 units / $800,000.
Blu-ray sales were mixed. On the one hand, they were up 38% from last weekend reaching $18.8 million. On the other hand, that was down 26% from the same weekend last year. However, this time last year saw the release of X-Men Origins: Wolverine, which sold nearly 1 million units. Compared to DVD, Blu-ray represented 11% of the total market, which is not particularly strong. However, the market was flooded by a lot of releases that were not prime candidates for Blu-ray sales (TV on DVD, romantic comedies, etc.). Like so many recent weeks, there's not a lot to get excited about when it comes to Blu-ray sales, but there haven't been a lot of prime releases that one would expect to do well. Prince of Persia: The Sands of Time was the best selling Blu-ray with 500,000 units sold. This was close to the number of DVDs sold, and that is a reason to celebrate. Second place went to Letters to Juliet with 60,000 units. I'm actually more impressed with Fringe: Season Two, which sold over 35,000 units. That was only enough for fourth place, but it represents a very high percentage of total units sold for a TV on DVD release.
Filed under: Video Sales, Letters to Juliet, Prince of Persia: Sands of Time, Just Wright, Barbie: A Fashion Fairytale, Scooby-Doo! Camp Scare