Blu-ray Sales: New Releases Lose to the Game
July 4, 2012
There were four new releases to reach the top ten on the Blu-ray sales chart this week, but none of them were able to unseat Sherlock Holmes: A Game of Shadows. That film remained in first place with 444,000 units / $11.08 million for the week lifting its totals to 1.90 million units / $44.59 million after two.
Project X was well back in second place with 232,000 units / $5.34 million. Its opening week Blu-ray share was 37%, which is okay for this type of release. It is aimed at the right demographic for Blu-ray, but it is not a film that needs to be seen in high definition. Act of Valor slipped to third place with 93,000 units / $2.32 million over the week for a three-week total of 1.20 million / $26.23 million. John Carter rose to fourth place with 90,000 units / $2.07 million. It has now sold 1.07 million units and generated $22.17 million. Had the film's theatrical numbers been merely weak and not a complete disaster, its home market numbers might have saved the film. Safe House traded places with John Carter falling to fifth place with 87,000 units / $2.10 million for the week. After three weeks of release, it has sold 958,000 units and generated $20.27 million in sales.
Wanderlust opened in ninth place with 43,000 units / $856,000. This is not a prime release for high definition, but an opening week Blu-ray share of 37% is strong for this type of release. The final new release to chart was Seeking Justice, which landed in tenth place with 34,000 units / $671,000. An opening week Blu-ray share of 35% is rather weak, but everything about this film's performance has been weak.
The overall Blu-ray market collapsed when compared to last week, and that's taking into account last week downward revisions. Sales fell 53% in terms of units and 54% in terms of dollars, which is obviously not a good result, but it is a result of weak new releases and not some weakness in the overall market. In fact, the overall market was much higher than last year, up 189% in terms of units and 203% in terms of revenue. DVD sales were also down compared to last week, but by a less extreme margin, and were basically flat compared to last year. This meant the overall Blu-ray share fell to 39% in terms of units and 47% in terms of revenue, but that's better than expected for this time of year.
Next week is looking pretty good with a quartet of films that should do significant business on high definition. 21 Jump Street will probably lead the way, but I'm not 100% sure on that. Last year, the best-selling new release was the Lord of the Rings Box Set. That release managed nearly $20 million in opening week sales. There's a chance no release this year will do the same. On the other hand, the second best selling release was Sucker Punch at just over $4 million. This year there is a lot more depth and we should still see solid growth in terms of units, if not revenue.
Filed under: Video Sales, John Carter, 21 Jump Street, Sherlock Holmes: A Game of Shadows, Seeking Justice, Safe House, Wanderlust, Project X, Act of Valor