DVD Sales: Latest Twilight Can't Eclipse Predecessors

December 15, 2010

The best new release of the week didn't actually come out this week. This is because The Twilight Saga: Eclipse wasn't released on Tuesday like the rest of the new releases, but on the weekend. Despite having fewer days to sell DVDs, it still topped the sales chart with 2.39 million units / $43.06 million; however, this was lower than the opening sales of its predecessors, both of which had the same release strategy. Day and Knight opened in second place, but it was way back with 613,000 units / $8.31 million. In fact, in terms of dollars, it was only able to place fourth. Another box office disappointment, The Sorcerer's Apprentice, opened in third place with 570,000 units / $10.08 million. Toy Story 3 remained in the top five for one more week with 564,000 units / $11.40 million for the week and 7.34 million units / $135.99 million after a month of release. I suspect it is in second place for the year, but we won't know for sure till next week's numbers come in. The Search for Santa Paws rounded out the top five with 376,000 units / $6.71 million for the week and 1.44 million units / $24.84 million in total. There will be another installment in the franchise.

The Fantasia / Fantasia 2000 double-pack opened in eighth place in terms of units sold with 265,000, but in fifth in terms of dollars at $6.76 million. That's good for a catalogue title, and it did even better on Blu-ray. On the other hand, Vampires Suck sucked for a first run release at 202,000 units / $3.18 million and it sucked even more on Blu-ray.

The Post-Black Friday slump was not as bad as it could have been, down just 18% to $68.2 million, which was 61% higher than the same weekend last year. DVD sales were also up, but by less than 9%. This helped Blu-ray grab 20% of the total market and 29% of the top 20 comparison.

The Twilight Saga: Eclipse led the way with 735,000 units. That's not bad, given its target audience is teenage girls, who are not the demographic most likely to own a Blu-ray player. Compared this with the second place Blu-ray, The Sorcerer's Apprentice, with 425,000 units, which represented almost 43% of total sales. That's what a first-run release should be aiming for. Meanwhile, Fantasia / Fantasia 2000 double-pack opened in third place with 340,000 units, which is more than it sold on DVD. Day and Knight was a little soft at 290,000 units, while Vampires Suck sold just 20,000 units.


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Filed under: Video Sales, Fantasia, Fantasia 2000, The Sorcerer's Apprentice, The Twilight Saga: Eclipse, Toy Story 3, Knight and Day, The Search for Santa Paws, Vampires Suck