New releases dominated the sales chart this week. More specifically, TV on DVD releases, which accounted for five of the seven new releases that charted. This includes The Office - Season Four, which opened in first place with 435,000 units sold and $13.47 million in retail spending. The Little Mermaid: Ariel's Beginning was pushed into second place with a still impressive weekly total of 374,000 units and $7.47 million, which lifted its totals to 1.44 million units and $24.59 million. What Happens in Vegas... landed in third place with 230,000 / $4.80 million for the week and 790,000 / $16.63 million after two. Meanwhile, Heroes - Season Two slipped to fourth place with 145,000 units for the week and 573,000 in total, and thanks to its TV on DVD pricing, it has already pulled in $14.30 million in revenue. Rounding out the top five was The Nightmare Before Christmas with 135,000 units, and sales revenue of $3.42 million. Since its Special Edition was released, the film has sold 453,000 units and made $13.60 million.

The next best new release was Supernatural - Season Three, which opened in sixth place with 109,000 units, although its $4.26 million in sales would give it fourth place for the week. Fellow TV on DVD release, Desperate Housewives - Season Four was next with 67,000 units and $2.62 million. Two direct-to-DVD titles were next with The Next Avengers: Heroes of Tomorrow earning 10th place with 64,000 / $965,000 while Bait Shop's DVD placed 11th with 64,000 units / $1.09 million. Further down the list in 17th place we find Mickey Mouse Clubhouse - Mickey's Storybook Surprises with sales of $744,000 from 50,000 units, and the final new release to chart was The Big Bang Theory - The Complete First Season, which opened in 25th place with 40,000 units and $754,000.

Incredibly, Blu-ray sales saw massive growth again, up 16% to $10.6 million, which was 8.7% of total home market sales, and 12% of the Top Twenty comparison. The raw number was the best since National Treasure - Book of Secrets was a major player on the charts, while the percentages were the best we've seen since records have been kept (which is April). Transformers was the best of the Blu-ray sellers, as the title managed to sell 129,000 units and generate $3.25 million, which would have been enough for sixth place on the charts. Throw in its DVD sales, and it is in the top five. That's impressive for a catalogue release.

- C.S.Strowbridge

Date posted: 2008-09-14