DVD Sales: Home Market Gorges on New Releases
September 5, 2012
Depending on how you look at things, there were more than ten new releases to reach the top 30 on the DVD Sales Chart. One of the confusing "new" releases is The Hunger Games, which spent its first full week on the home market, but came out a few days before Tuesday. It sold 2.50 million units and generated $42.48 million during its first full week of release, for totals of 4.68 million units / $79.46 million and it is already the second best selling DVD of 2012 and should be in first place very shortly. I was amazed that the film actually sold more this week than it did last week, even with its shortened opening week. After all, Breaking Dawn, Part 1 also opened with a shortened week, but fell nearly 40% during its first full week of release. Clearly this movie has much better word-of-mouth.
Doctor Seuss' The Lorax remained in second place with 223,000 units / $4.28 million over the week for totals of 2.71 million units / $48.33 million after three. It is just ahead of Puss in Boots for third place for 2012, although it likely won't climb any higher up, as there are too many prime releases coming out soon. The Dictator opened in third place with 132,000 units / $2.04 million, which is disappointing for a first-run release. NCIS: Season Nine debuted in fourth place with a solid 121,000 units / $3.98 million. This is good for a TV on DVD release. Dexter: Season Six was pushed into fifth place with 84,000 units / $2.83 million for the week and 371,000 units / $9.98 million after two.
Another TV on DVD release, Revenge: Season One, was right behind with 71,000 units / $1.99 million. The Pocahontas 2-Movie Collection opened in seventh place with 61,000 units / $1.09 million. I'm surprised this charted, because the Blu-ray was obviously more hyped. The final season of House, M.D. opened in ninth place with 51,000 units / $1.78 million. The series used to sell more than 100,000 units during its opening week, but the overall TV on DVD market has suffered since then, as the amount of competition has grown leaving each release with a smaller slice of the pie. The Closer: Season Seven earned tenth place with 48,000 units / $1.68 million. Bernie just missed the top ten with 47,000 units / $513,000, which is a solid debut for a limited release. The Rescuers / The Rescuers Down Under Double-Feature DVD earned twelfth place with 40,000 units / $715,000. This is a similar release to the Pocahontas Double-Feature above, but the original films were not as strong at the box office. The Aristocats was right behind with just under 40,000 units / $913,000. It isn't a true new release, as it has been out on DVD in the past, but a new edition came out this week. Likewise, The Tigger Movie was in the same position and its new DVD earned 21st place with 26,000 units / $565,000.
Filed under: Video Sales, Pocahontas, The Rescuers, The Rescuers Down Under, The Tigger Movie, Puss in Boots, The Aristocats, Dr. Seuss’ The Lorax, Bernie, The Hunger Games, The Dictator