DVD Sales: Gru was Despicable to the Competition
December 28, 2010
There were seven new releases to chart this week, including the new number one. In fact, that new number one dominated in a surprising way and none of the other new releases managed to make much of an impact at the box office. Despicable Me led the way with 3.75 million units sold and $62.70 million. If there were any doubts about a sequel, this ended them, as the film is already in the top ten for the year.
The Twilight Saga: Eclipse was pushed to second place with 981,000 units / $17.65 million for the week and 6.36 million units / $114.46 million in total. This is nearly identical to the first film's totals at this point in its run, and better than the second's, plus this film has better Blu-ray sales to boost its numbers. Inception held on better than most films do, down 36% to 881,000 units / $16.10 million for the week giving it a total of 2.26 million units / $41.73 million. Two new releases could legitimately lay claim to fourth place. The A-Team sold 638,000 units for $10.85 million, while The Other Guys sold nearly the same number of units at 637,000, but generated $12.10 million in revenue.
The next best new release was The Town, which opened in eighth place with 339,000 units / $6.10 million. Considering how well it did theatrically, this is a bit disappointing. The final season of 24 opened in 16th place with 179,000 units sold, but thanks to TV on DVD pricing, it managed ninth place with $6.72 million in revenue. Nanny McPhee Returns could do no better than 18th place with 174,000 / $3.13 million, which is surprising, as kids movies tend to sell well. But it could have been worse, as Legend of the Guardians: The Owls of Ga'hoole shows. That film opened in 25th place with a mere 137,000 units / $1.91 million opening week.
Due to the holidays, Blu-ray sales numbers were not available, but it seems that Despicable Me and Inception were fighting for top spot. The former probably won.
We did get some nearly-end-of-year information on the best-selling Blu-rays of 2010. Leading the way was Avatar, which is the most obvious bit of news. However, what was shocking was the number: 8.0 million units. That would have placed it third on the DVD sales chart. Iron Man 2 was well back in second place, but with 4.5 million units, it is still a monster hit. Beauty and the Beast placed third with just over 4.0 million units, while Toy Story 3 was fourth with just under 4.0 million units. Rounding out the top five was Inception with 2.7 million units, but that was for just one week.
There were a few kids films to crack 2 million units, more or less, as How to Train Your Dragon, Toy Story, and Toy Story 2 proved the format is not just for early adapters. One final note, Kick-Ass sold 1 million units, which is nearly identical to its DVD sales. Inception might end with a higher Blu-ray ratio, but it's too soon to tell after just one week.
Filed under: Video Sales, Toy Story 2, Toy Story, Beauty and the Beast, Nanny McPhee and the Big Bang, Inception, The A-Team, Despicable Me, The Twilight Saga: Eclipse, How to Train Your Dragon, Iron Man 2, Legend of the Guardians: The Owls of Ga'Hoole, Toy Story 3, Kick-Ass, Avatar, The Town, The Other Guys