DVD Sales - Sales Don't Have a Prayer
January 26, 2009
There were plenty of new releases to reach the top 30 on the sales chart this week, but none were particularly strong. The best was The Family that Preys, but it failed to crack a half million units with 491,000 units and $10.78 million for the week.
Pineapple Express slipped to second place with 409,000 units for the week and 1.58 million units in total, which is enough to put it in first place for the year so far. The rest of the top five were all new releases with My Best Friend's Girl placing third with 270,000 units and $6.28 million. Appaloosa was next with 258,000 units and $4.98 million, which is excellent for a limited release. Finally, Mirrors placed fifth with 242,000 units and $4.65 million, which is weaker than expected.
Other new releases to chart include Swing Vote in seventh place with 151,000 units and $3.14 million. Tyler Perry's Marriage Counselor opened in 12th place with 122,000 units, but just $1.70 million. The final new releases to chart was another direct-to-DVD release, Without a Paddle: Nature's Calling, which placed 21st with 60,000 units and $1.27 million.
Blu-ray sales collapsed this week and were down 44% to just $10.6 million. Compared to DVDs, it earned just 9.7% of total sales and 12% of the top 20 comparison. However, it is important to note that the top-selling DVD was not even released on Blu-ray, which undoubtedly hurt sales figures and percentages for the week. (In fact, the best-selling Blu-ray for the week was The Dark Knight.) Also, Blu-ray didn't earn better than 9.7% of total sales until the fourth quarter of last year, and it wasn't able to consistently hold that figure either. And 12% on the top 20 comparison is also one of the best figures the format has achieved. So anyone who tells you this is a terrible week for Blu-ray sales and sign of weakness in the format just doesn't that their facts straight, as it is purely about the weakness in the Blu-ray offerings, which is a common problem this time of year.
Filed under: Video Sales, The Dark Knight, Pineapple Express, The Family That Preys, Mirrors, My Best Friend's Girl, Swing Vote, Appaloosa