Our DVD and Blu-ray sales estimates are based on weekly retail surveys, which we use to build a weekly market share estimate for each title we are tracking. The market share is converted into a weekly sales estimate based on industry reports on the overall size of the market, including reports published in Media Play News.

For example, if our weekly retail survey estimates that a particular title sold 1% of all units that week, and the industry reports sales of 1,500,000 units in total, we will estimate 15,000 units were sold of that title. The consumer spending estimate is based on the average sales price for the title in the retailers we survey.

We refine our estimates from week to week as more data becomes available. In particular, we adjust weekly sales figures for the quarter once the total market estimates are published by the Digital Entertainment Group. Figures will therefore fluctuate each week, and totals for individual titles can go up or down as we update our estimates.

Because sales figures are estimated based on sampling, they will be more accurate for higher-selling titles.

Home Market Releases for April 16th, 2019

April 17th, 2019

We’ve hit the summer doldrums on the home market, but we do have the first major hit of 2019 to talk about. Too bad Glass earned reviews that are so weak. Unfortunately, none of the smaller releases really rise to the level of Pick of the Week. Fans of animation are in luck, as both Dragon Ball Super: Broly and Justice League vs. The Fatal Five are both worth picking up. Bend of the River is a great western. Meanwhile, if you like B-movie cult classics, The Manitou is for you. More...

Theater Averages: Most New Releases were Left Out in the Cold

February 6th, 2019

Never Look Away held up well earning $19,033 in its lone theater. Its Oscar Nod is helping, but its real test is when the film tries to expand. The only new release in the $10,000 club was Arctic, with an average of $12,720 in four theaters. More...

Theater Averages: Most Films were Never Looked At

January 31st, 2019

Never Look Away was the only film to earn a spot in the $10,000 club, as it earned $25,789 in its lone theater. It did earn an Oscar Nod for Best Foreign-Language Picture, so it could do very well in limited release. More...

Weekend Wrap-Up: January Ends on a Quiet Note

January 29th, 2019

2019 has been off to a slow start and that certainly didn’t change this past weekend. Glass and the holdovers held up better than expected, but the two new releases, The Kid Who Would Be King and Serenity, both went nowhere. This led to the weekend box office haul falling below the $100 million mark at just $97 million. This is 25% lower than last weekend and 31% lower than the same weekend last year, when Maze Runner: The Death Cure opened with $24.17 million. That’s more than this week’s two releases will earn combined. It’s going to be another bad week for 2019. Year-to-date, 2019 is already down by $100 million; $764 million to $871 million and it’s not going to get better in February. More...

Theater Averages: History is Being Written

January 24th, 2019

Who Will Write Our History topped the theater average chart with $13,390 in its lone theater. One could also argue Dragon Ball Super: Broly was the true leader on this chart. Because the film played in a different number of theaters each day over the weekend, it is hard to come up with a real theater average for the weekend. Taking the average of the daily averages gets us $13,643, which would be number one of the weekend. Using the maximum theater count still gets us an average of $7,870, which is still amazing. The only other film in the $10,000 club was the overall box office leader, Glass, with an average of $10,500. More...

Weekend Wrap-Up: Glass Wins, Dragon Ball was Super

January 22nd, 2019

It was a mixed weekend with Glass missing admittedly high expectations, but a lot of the rest of the top five thrived. This includes Dragon Ball Super: Broly, which wasn’t even expected to open in the top five. Overall, the box office rose 8.6% from last weekend to $130 million. This is 5.0% less than the same weekend last year, which means 2019’s losing streak continues. This is more disappointing, as the misalignment in holidays gave 2019 a huge advantage this weekend. Year-to-date, 2019 is below 2018 by $100 million. In fact, 2019 is off to the worst start since 2012 or 2011, depending on if you take ticket price inflation into account. That said, it is still very early in the year and there are several nearly guaranteed monster hits on the way. More...

Weekend Estimates: Glass Cracks, Still Tops Chart

January 20th, 2019

Glass’s box office potential has continued to drop and it is now estimated to earn $40.59 million over the three-day weekend and $47.06 million over four. The three-day opening is barely ahead of Split’s opening weekend and it is certainly lower in terms of tickets sold. Furthermore, Glass’s reviews and B-rating from CinemaScore are clearly already having a negative effect on the film’s legs. That said, the film only cost $20 million to make and while Universal is only handling the domestic run, it will break even just on its domestic numbers. The film’s international run is being handled by Disney, mostly, and they reported $48.5 million in 55 markets. The only market the film hasn’t opened in is China, which is the only international market Disney is not handling the distribution. According to Disney, the film is 13% ahead of Split internationally, but again, given its weaker reviews and its CinemaScore, its legs will likely be short enough that Glass will finish with less than its predecessor. Then again, it cost just $20 million to make and will likely hit $100 million worldwide on Monday, so everyone involved will be happy with this result. More...

Friday Estimates: Glass is Looking a Little More Fragile

January 19th, 2019

It looks like Glass will open on the low end of expectations with $16.0 million on Friday, putting it on pace for $50 million over the four-day weekend. Its reviews are clearly not helping, while the film only managed a B from CinemaScore, which is down from the B plus Split earned. That said, the film only cost $20 million to make and Universal’s share of the opening weekend will be more than that. Unless the film’s advertising budget is unreasonably large, then the movie will break even just on its domestic numbers. More...

Limited and VOD Releases: Growing Up is not Required

January 18th, 2019

It is still the worst time of the year for limited releases. Dragon Ball Super: Broly will undoubtedly be the biggest hit of the weekend, but films like Adult Life Skills should find an audience on the home market. More...

Weekend Predictions: Will Glass Shatter Franchise Records?

January 17th, 2019

It is MLK day long weekend, the first long weekend of the year. On the one hand, there’s only one new release trying to take advantage of that. On the other hand, that one film is Glass, which is widely expected to be the biggest hit of the month. In fact, it could earn more over the next four days than any other January film earns in total. On a side note, Dragon Ball Super: Broly opened on Wednesday earning $7 million. It won’t earn that much over the weekend, but depending on how many screenings it has in how many theaters over the weekend, it could sneak into the top ten. That would be something amazing for Anime. This weekend last year was the weekend after MLK Day, so the misalignment in holidays should give 2019 its first win of the year. More...

International Box Office: Bumblebee Stings the Competition

January 16th, 2019

Bumblebee remained in first place with $35.6 million in 64 markets for totals of $256.3 million internationally and $365.2 million worldwide. It was able to remain in first place in China with $26.36 million over the weekend for a two-week total of $108.91 million. It fell 55%, which is actually quite good for a film in China. Bumblebee needs about $250 million worldwide, without China, in order to break even during its initial push into the home market. It got there this weekend and it still hasn’t opened in Japan. I think Paramount will be happy with this result and there will be another installment in the Transformers franchise. More...