DVD Sales - Ariel Begins on Top
September 10, 2008
New releases were led by The Little Mermaid: Ariel's Beginning, which took the top spot on the sales chart with 1.07 million units sold for $17.11 million in consumer spending.
This is nearly double the units What Happens in Vegas... sold as that film opened in second place with 568,000 units and $12.00 million in sales. The first of several TV on DVD releases was next as Heroes - Season Two opened in fourth with 443,000 units for opening week sales of $11.05 million. The Nightmare Before Christmas returned to the charts thanks to its Special Edition, selling 318,000 units for $8.18 million for the week. The only holdover in the top five was Camp Rock, which was pushed to fifth place with 171,000 units / $2.55 million for the week and 706,000 units / $10.57 million after two.
A quartet of new TV on DVD releases charted. This group was led by Entourage - The Complete Fourth Season, which placed eighth with 113,000 units and $2.95 million. One Tree Hill - The Complete Fifth Season was just behind in terms of units with 106,000 sold, but was well ahead in terms of revenue with $4.14 million. NCIS - The Complete Fifth Season and The Shield - The Complete Sixth Season sold 59,000 units with the former selling just over that mark and the latter just under as the two ended the week in a virtual tie for 14th place.
Strangely Blu-ray sales saw massive growth this week, up 29% to $9.1 million, which was 6.8% of total sales. Additionally, this was near the best results for the format since National Treasure - Book of Secrets last topped the charts. This is particularly weird, as this week's new releases in High Definition were not strong. However, the Top 20 comparison showed no growth for Blu-ray, as it was stuck at 6%, so this suggests catalogue titles were responsible for the growth overall. This could mean hardware sales are picking up in anticipation of such releases as Iron Man on Blu-ray. That's the only explanation, and next week sales could plummet, showing this was just a one time fluke, but it is something worth noting and keeping an eye on.
Filed under: Video Sales, What Happens in Vegas..., , The Little Mermaid: Ariel's Beginning, Camp Rock