Blu-ray Sales: Battle of the Five Releases
April 13, 2015
There were five or six new releases to reach the top twenty on the Blu-ray sales chart. Leading the way was The Hobbit: The Battle of the Five Armies with 832,000 units / $23.28 million, giving it an opening week Blu-ray share of 55%. This is a strong result, but not an unexpected one, as the film hits the right marks for strong sales on Blu-ray. It is a visually impressive film, it is a fantasy adventure film, and it is based on a popular franchise. The Battle of the Five Armies was also part of a franchise box set, which is the tenth best selling release of the week with 37,000 units / $1.87 million for a 53% opening week Blu-ray share. Technically these are two separate releases, but obviously they are connected enough to mention together.
Into the Woods was a distant second with 234,000 units / $4.68 million for a opening week Blu-ray share of 37%. This isn't a great share for the high definition release, but musicals tend to not do as well on high definition as action, adventure, or some other genres. Unbroken was close behind with 234,000 units / $4.68 million. Its opening week Blu-ray share was 58%, which is much higher than expected. Even a 50% Blu-ray share would have been great. Penguins of Madagascar fell from first place to fourth place with 73,000 units / $1.45 million for the week and 335,000 units / $6.70 million after two weeks of release. Exodus: Gods and Kings landed in fifth place with 59,000 units / $1.34 million for the week and 309,000 units / $7.11 million after two.
The best of the rest of the new releases was Monster High: Haunted, which is a surprisingly popular series. It sold 17,000 units and generated $284,000 on Blu-ray, when most releases aimed at this target demographic don't even bother to release on Blu-ray. The Fast and the Furious franchise box set earned 16th place with 9,000 units / $388,000. Its opening week Blu-ray share was 54%, which is fine for this type of action film. However, I was expecting better. After all, the franchise isn't over so the only real value is for people who own many of the films on DVD, but want to make the leap to Blu-ray.
Filed under: Video Sales, The Fast and the Furious, The Hobbit: The Battle of the Five Armies, Penguins of Madagascar, Exodus: Gods and Kings, Into the Woods, Unbroken, Monster High: Haunted, Fast and the Furious, The Hobbit