Home Market Numbers: SpongeBob Soaks Up the Competition

June 22, 2015

The SpongeBob Movie: Sponge Out of Water

It was a busy week on the home market, sort of. There were plenty of new releases on the video chart, with new releases earning five of the top six spots. However, the number one film, The SpongeBob Movie: Sponge Out of Water wasn't a major hit, selling 584,000 units / $11.52 million. Its opening week Blu-ray share was 47%, which is really good for an animated film aimed at kids. Overall, this isn't a bad start, but I was really hoping for more. Its box office numbers were much better than expected, plus it was a great movie, but its home market debut is only good.

Jupiter Ascending was relatively close behind with 429,000 units / $9.38 million. It struggled in theaters, so this start is better than expected. Its opening week Blu-ray share was 52%, which is on par with expectations given its box office struggles but also its visual flair. American Sniper fell to third place with 283,000 units / $5.32 million for the week and 2.24 million units / $41.81 million after three. Focus opened in fourth place with 196,000 units / $3.60 million. Its opening week Blu-ray share was 42%, which is fine for a conman suspense / thriller. McFarland, USA rounded out the top five with 132,000 units / $2.58 million. Dramas rarely do as well on Blu-ray as other genres, so its opening week Blu-ray share of just 27% is right in line with expectations.

Justified: The Final Season was the first of three new TV on DVD releases to chart. It landed in sixth place with 120,000 units / $2.99 million. Its opening week Blu-ray share was just 19%, which is weak, even for a TV on DVD drama / suspense show. Falling Skies: Season Four landed in 12th place with 36,000 units / $671,000 for an opening week Blu-ray share of 30%. A Blu-ray share of 30% is excellent for a TV on DVD release. Rizzoli & Isles: Season Five managed 19th place with 25,000 units / $607,000. It wasn't even released on Blu-ray. It likely would have only sold a few thousand units, tops.

The Blu-ray chart was significantly stronger when compared to last week with 39% more units sold while the total revenue was 55% higher. Compared to last year, things were not as rosy. Sales were down 19% in terms of units and down 2.6% in terms of revenue. The overall Blu-ray sales were better than the DVD sales, week-over-week, leading to a rise in the overall Blu-ray share to 40%. A 40% Blu-ray share is exactly what the market should be aiming for at this time of year.

DVD sales were mixed, up 14% in terms of units sold and 16% in terms of revenue when compared to last week. However, compared to last year, sales were down 5.4% in terms of units and 11% in terms of revenue.

Next week's new releases will be led by Kingsman: The Secret Service, which earned more than $100 million at the domestic box office. Hopefully that translated into strong home market sales. The same week last year was led by Jack Ryan: Shadow Recruit, which earned top spot on the Blu-ray sales chart, and Non-Stop, which earned first place on the DVD sales chart. It will be interesting to see how well 2015 does in comparison to 2014.

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Filed under: Video Sales, The SpongeBob Movie: Sponge Out of Water, Jupiter Ascending, Kingsman: The Secret Service, McFarland, USA, Focus, American Sniper