After surprising analysts at the box office this summer, Pirates of the Caribbean: Curse of the Black Pearl has broken records at the home market. The Disney DVD sold 4 million combined VHS and DVD copies in just the first 24 hours, and went on to sell 11 million copies in its first week. That last figure is a record for most units sold in the first week for a live-action feature.

It seems every week another blockbuster is released on DVD to huge numbers. First it was Finding Nemo, which broke records for both combined units sold in one day and most DVD sold all-time. Then it was X2: X-Men United, which earned more than half its total box office run in just its first five days of the home market. The week previous Bruce Almighty took in just shy of $100 million in combined sales and rentals. The home market of all three movies will near, or exceed their domestic box office totals.

This week there's not as many high profile theatrical releases with Bad Boys II leading the way. (Though I suspect Gigli will get more than a few rentals based on morbid curiosity.) But the week's champ could be from the TV on DVD category with two Joss Whedon releases (Buffy the Vampire Slayer: Season 5 and the criminally prematurely cancelled Firefly) and two from the very in demand Hilary Duff (Fashionably Lizzie and Growing Up Lizzie.)


Submitted by: C.S.Strowbridge

Source: Coming Soon
Date posted: 2003-12-11