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 19th, 2016

April 19th, 2016

The biggest release on this week's list is The Revenant. There are no other releases that come close to that film's box office run and / or Awards Season run. However, personally I think it is well overrated and would be considered a merely good film if it weren't for its reputation for being a difficult shoot. As for the Pick of the Week, there were only a couple of contenders. In the end, Drunk Stoned Brilliant Dead on Blu-ray was the clear choice. More...

International Box Office: Zootopia Goes Global with $83.1 million

March 17th, 2016

Zootopia rose to first place with $83.1 million in 45 markets over the weekend for totals of $288.7 million internationally and $432.7 million worldwide. The film's biggest market was China, where it grew to $59.44 million over the weekend for a ten-day total of $112.83 million. It became only the second animated film to earn $100 million in China and should top Kung Fu Panda 3's record-breaking run of $151.74 million. The film opens in Brazil this weekend and the U.K. next weekend, so its run is far from over. More...

International Box Office: Ip Man 3 has First Place Debut with $75.0 million, maybe.

March 10th, 2016

It's a really bad week for international numbers, but not because the box office numbers are low. Ip Man 3 reportedly opened in first place with $75.0 million in three markets over the weekend for a total of $76.5 million. This includes $71.28 million in its native China. I say "reportedly" because this week this story broke. If this is true, then we will have to doubt any box office number coming out of China. This is a mess. Chinese films regularly reach the top five on the international chart, so if we can't trust the official reports, it makes these figures nearly useless. More...

Theater Averages: I Knew Her does Relatively Well with $9,312

February 9th, 2016

No films earned more than $10,000 on the theater average chart. I Knew Her Well came the closest with $9,312 in its lone theater. Kung Fu Panda 3 landed in second place with just $5,328, which shows you how bad the weekend was. More...

Theater Averages: Panda Eats the Competition with an average of $10,438

February 3rd, 2016

There was only one film in the $10,000 this week, Kung Fu Panda 3, which earned an average of $10,438. The best limited release was Rabin The Last Day, which opened with $7,940 in one theater. More...

Weekend Estimates: The Revenant wins chilly weekend with $16 million

January 24th, 2016

With the weekend jam-packed with new releases and Oscar hopefuls, and thrown off course by Winter Storm Jonas, it’s perhaps fitting that a tale of battles against the elements will come out on top. The Revenant will be down 50% from last weekend’s MLK Holiday-inflated number to $16 million, but that will be enough to leapfrog over Ride Along 2 and into first place. The Leonardo DiCaprio film, which remains a good bet for a fistful of Oscars, although perhaps not the major prize, has $119 million to date. Also overtaking Ride Along 2 to move back to second place is Star Wars: The Force Awakens with $14.26 million for a weekend and $879.3 million in total to date. With $1.06 billion internationally, the film is drawing close to becoming the third film to earn over $2 billion worldwide. More...

Limited and VOD Releases: Will there be a Monster Hit?

January 22nd, 2016

There are not a lot of interesting limited releases this week. The lone exception might be Monster Hunt. This film earned nearly $400 million in China, so box office analysts will be paying close attention to its limited release run. If it can find crossover appeal, it could signal a wave of Chinese movies getting releases here. On the other hand, its reviews suggest that won't happen. More...