Blu-ray Sales: Underworld Reaches for the Sky
May 23, 2012
The same four new releases that charted on the DVD sales chart also charted on the Blu-ray sales chart this week, with just one addition. (And that one addition is actually related to the top film.) Leading the way was Underworld: Awakening, which earned $11.77 million from 590,000 units sold. Its opening week Blu-ray share was 56%, which is becoming commonplace for action films.
The Vow was a distant second place with 253,000 units / $5.82 million. Its opening week Blu-ray share a mere 24%; however, while that is weak compared to the format as a whole, it is in line with expectations given its genre and target audience. Mission: Impossible - Ghost Protocol fell to third with 110,000 units / $2.21 million for the week, giving it totals of 1.81 million units / $39.58 million after four. The Avengers helped lift a couple Marvel films into the top ten with Thor grabbing fourth place with 88,000 units / $2.32 million for the week for totals of 1.58 million units / $46.65 million after 35 weeks of release. Captain America: The First Avenger was right behind with 82,000 units / $1.65 million for the week and 2.75 million / $67.19 million after 29 weeks of release. Results like this show the value of a franchise crossover like The Avengers. Not only will fans of the individual franchises go see the movie, but if the movie is really well done, it will bring new fans to the other films.
Chuck: The Season Five opened in 11th place with 35,000 units / $958,000. An opening week Blu-ray share of 37% is excellent for a TV on DVD release. WrestleMania: XXVIII was right behind with 34,000 units / $581,000. Its opening week Blu-ray share was 39%. It's nearly impossible to judge that figure, as there are so few other releases of this type, so there are simply not enough data to compare it against. The only other new release to chart was Underworld: Franchise Box Set. This Blu-ray sold 27,000 units generating $1.07 million, further boosting Awakening's weekly haul.
With a strong Blu-ray release on top, the overall Blu-ray sales grew this week. Sales were up last week by 45% in terms of units and 51% in terms of revenue. Compared to last year, sales rocketed up 175% in terms of units and 222% in terms of revenue. DVD sales, on the other hand, were basically flat compared to last week and last year. This meant the overall Blu-ray share shot up to 44% in terms of units and 52% in terms of dollars, which is about double what it was this week last year.
Among the new releases for next week are four first-run releases, including two that should sell well on Blu-ray. Chronicle will likely lead the way, but The Grey might surprise. As for last year, new releases were led by The Mechanic, which only managed second place on the DVD sales chart and only sold 230,000 units on Blu-ray. The third or fourth ranked Blu-ray should sell more than that this year.
Filed under: Video Sales, Thor, Captain America: The First Avenger, Underworld: Awakening, Mission: Impossible—Ghost Protocol, The Grey, The Vow, Chronicle