End of the World on the Home Market

June 2, 2007

It was a mixed week for new releases as they were able to take three of the top four spots on the rental chart, including number one, but were practically shut out of the remainder of the chart. Also, while Apocalypto finished first, its opening week total of $6.02 million was less Pan's Labyrinth opened with last week. In fact, it was not that much ahead of the $5.58 million Pan's Labyrinth earned this week. Epic Movie placed third by the narrowest of margins earning $5.43 million, but that was still on the weak side given its theatrical performance. Letters from Iwo Jima was next with $4.41 million just ahead of fifth place Night at the Museum, which added $4.22 million for a five-week total of $37.81 million.

The only other rental to chart was The Good German, which placed 39th with $850,000.

Apocalypto also led the sales chart and did so with ease. In fact, it sold more units than the rest of the top five combined. Second place went to Epic Movie while Letters from Iwo Jima opened in third. Stomp the Yard fell from first to fourth, just ahead of Pan's Labyrinth. The latter film's strong hold on the rental charts suggests that it is earning good word-of-mouth and that should translate to more sales down the road.

The only other new releases to chart this week were from the TV on DVD category with The O.C. - The Complete Fourth Season earning 12th place and Roots taking 16th.

On a side note, for a while now Blu-Ray releases have been outselling their HD-DVD counterparts, sometimes by a 2-1 margin. However, prices have recently been slashed on some HD-DVD players, which is balancing the playing field. This price cut was either due to increased production capacity, reduced marginal costs, recuperation of previous R&D costs, etc. All of which would be good news for studios backing HD-DVD. Or, it could be a desperate attempt to draw in customers and avoid defeat in the Format Wars. If this is the case, we could see a winner in less than a year as Blu-Ray makers might be willing to lower prices and take a short term hit in order to delivery a fatal blow to their competition.


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Filed under: Night at the Museum, Stomp the Yard, Epic Movie, El Laberinto del Fauno, Letters from Iwo Jima, The Good German, Apocalypto