Blu-ray Sales: The Checkered Flag goes to Cars Too
November 16, 2011
Not only did Cars 2 lead the way on the DVD sales chart, it led the way on the Blu-ray sales chart as well. It dominated new releases and holdovers alike, selling 1.76 million units and generating $44.57 million in opening week sales. Its opening Blu-ray ratio was 47%, which is very good for a kids movie and an unexpected boon for the format.
Captain America: The First Avenger slipped to second place with 333,000 units / $8.32 million over the week for totals of 1.88 million units / $48.40 million after two. It has sold nearly twice as many units on Blu-ray than on DVD and generated nearly three times the revenue. Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides sold 223,000 units earning $5.57 million during the week and has now sold 2.33 million units / $64.11 million after three. It is one of the best selling Blu-rays of the year, but it only just came out on DVD this week, so these numbers are inflated as a result. Crazy, Stupid, Love earned fourth place with 211,000 units / $4.69 million. Its opening week Blu-ray ratio was just shy of 30%, which is impressive for this genre. Water for Elephants also did better than expected on high definition, selling 163,000 units / $3.82 million during its debut for a Blu-ray ratio of 27%. It wasn't that long ago that a Blu-ray ratio of 27% would have been impressive for a summer blockbuster movie. For a character driven drama to reach these heights is incredible.
The only other new release to chart was Trespass with 18,000 units / $370,000. That was enough for 23rd place for the week, while it had an opening week Blu-ray ratio of 25%.
Blu-ray continued to grow up 11% in terms of units and 2% in terms of revenue. Its growth compared to last year was even stronger up 57% in terms of units and 62% in terms of revenue. DVD sales grew even better compared to last week, but, like it has many times this year, it fell substantially compared to last year. The overall Blu-ray ratio fell quite a bit compared to last week, down to 45% in terms of units; however, the format still represented 56% of total revenue.
Next week, Blu-ray sales are all about Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows, Part 1, which came out on the Friday. The short week could hurt Blu-ray sales somewhat, but we should still see strong growth when compared to last year as the sales chart was led by Toy Story 3, again. That film added 330,000 units in sales, while Harry Potter likely sold closer to 1 million units during its opening day.
Filed under: Video Sales, Cars 2, Captain America: The First Avenger, Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides, Crazy, Stupid, Love, Trespass, Water for Elephants