Batman Begins New Slump on the Home Market

October 29, 2005

While Batman Begins had the best start in a long time, that wasn't enough for the video market to keep up with last year's pace. It brought in $10.38 million in DVD rentals and $970,000 in VHS rentals for a total of $11.34 million.

Kingdom of Heaven dropped 33% during its second week of release, falling to second place with $5.21 million. Conversely, Kicking and Screaming had the best week-to-week drop-off in the top five, dropping just 22% to $5.14 million for the week and $11.89 million during its run so far. The oldest release in the top five was The Interpreter, which added $4.70 million to its $19.91 million running tally. Land of the Dead opened in fifth place with $4.02 million, about a fifth of the film's total domestic run.

For the market as a whole, there were large drop-offs both week-to-week (12.1%) and year-to-year (17.6%). Year-to-date, 2005 has brought $6.2 billion, which is down 5.2% from last year. So much for the short-lived recovery we had these past two weeks.

Batman Begins led the sales chart as well, ahead of last week's winner, Kingdom of Heaven. Cinderella climbed from fourth to third, while Unleashed dropped from second to fourth. Rounding out the top five was Family Guy Presents Stewie Griffin - The Untold Story, which also climbed a spot this week.

Land of the Dead just missed the top five, finishing in sixth place. Other new releases charting this week include the TV on DVD release, Adventures of Superman - The Complete First Season, and two special editions, Batman - Two-Disc Special Edition and Saw Uncut.

Family Guy Presents Stewie Griffin - The Untold Story is still the number one TV on DVD seller ahead of the only newcomer in the top ten, Adventures of Superman - The Complete First Season. South Park - The Complete Sixth Season dropped to third place, ahead of Arrested Development - The Complete Second Season and Lost - The Complete First Season.

There were no other new releases in the top ten, but there were some interesting notes. Firefly - The Complete Series dropped down to six place while Drawn Together - Season One climbed back into tenth place in third week of release.

-

Filed under: Batman Begins, The Interpreter, Saw, Kicking and Screaming, Kingdom of Heaven, Danny the Dog, George A. Romero's Land of the Dead