Home Market Numbers: New Releases Help Home Market Survive

March 8, 2015

There were a ton of new releases to reach the top twenty of the Blu-ray sales chart this week. Unfortunately, while Game of Thrones: Season Four, Birdman, and others did well, the overall box office wasn't particularly sharp. There were 1.1% fewer units sold when compared to last week, but because the number one release was a TV on DVD release, the revenue rose by 7.1%. Compared to last year, Blu-ray sales were up 24% in terms of units and 3.5% in terms of revenue. The overall Blu-ray share returned to normal at 43%.

DVD sales were likewise mixed with 9.8% fewer units and 3.1% less revenue when compared to last week. When compared to last year, 12% more units were sold, but revenue fell by 4.8%. That's again due to Game of Thrones, but this time it's Season Three's fault, as it came out this week last year.

Next week's new releases will be led by Big Hero 6, which is one of the best movies of last year. It should certainly sell more units than this week's number one release did, but it might be hard to generate more revenue, because Game of Thrones has the TV on DVD price to boost revenues. Next weekend last year, new releases were led by Thor: The Dark World, which sold more than 2 million total units and generated more than $35 million in opening week sales. I really doubt Big Hero 6 is going to match that result.


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Filed under: Video Sales, Big Hero 6, Birdman or (The Unexpected Virtue of Ignorance)