Blu-ray Sales: Battleship Fires Another Salvo

September 19, 2012

None of the new releases were able to unseat Battleship on top of the Blu-ray Sales Chart this week, as it sold 145,000 units / $3.63 million for the week giving it totals of 729,000 units / $15.30 million after two. This is better than it is performing on DVD, but that's not saying a lot. The Hunger Games remained in second place with 138,000 units / $3.16 million for the week. After four weeks of release, the film has sold 3.84 million units and generated $77.84 million in revenue, making it one of the best selling Blu-ray of all time. Safe was in third place with 116,000 units / $2.32 million. Its opening week Blu-ray share was 44%, which is a little low for an action film. The Five-Year Engagement was next with 73,000 units / $1.45 million. Its opening week Blu-ray share was weaker at 41%, but this is actually very good for a comedy. The Walking Dead: Season Two rounded out the top five with 62,000 units / $4.01 million for the week and 277,000 units / $17.58 million after two.

Fringe: Season Four debuted in seventh place with 39,000 units / $1.57 million. An opening week Blu-ray share of 34% is really good for a TV on DVD release. Piranha 3DD just missed the top ten with $29,000 units / $444,000. The DVD didn't even chart. Person of Interest: Season One rounded out the top 20 with 15,000 units / $591,000, giving it an opening week Blu-ray share of 32%, which was better than I was expecting. On the other hand, The Office: Season Eight only managed 23rd place with 8,000 units / $291,000 for an opening week Blu-ray share of 16%.

The overall Blu-ray market plummeted from last week down 54% in terms of units and 53% in terms of revenue. It did see some growth compared to last year up 16% in terms of units and 30% in terms of revenue. Any growth is good, but after a few weeks of triple-digit growth, this is a little disappointing. The overall DVD market also fell from last week, albeit by a softer margin of 42% in terms of units and 33% in terms of revenue. Its growth from last year was also better up 25% in terms of units and 36% in terms of revenue. The death of DVD has clearly been overstated. The overall Blu-ray share fell to 33% of units and 37% of revenue. I think this is a momentary blip till the summer blockbusters start coming out.

Next week the new releases are again dominated by TV on DVD, many of which are just not coming out on Blu-ray. Snow White and the Huntsman will probably lead the way on high definition. But it is going up against Thor and Star Wars: The Complete Saga, both of which were released this time last year. Snow White will probably sell more than the 551,000 DVDs Thor did, but its Blu-ray numbers won't compare. It would take a minor miracle to see growth in the year-over-year comparison.


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Filed under: Video Sales, Battleship, The Five-Year Engagement, The Hunger Games, Safe, Snow White and the Huntsman, Piranha 3DD