Lord Battles to the Top
January 28, 2006
Lord of War won the weekly race on the rental charts, taking in $7.40 million, or just over 30% of what it earned during its theatrical release.
That meant Wedding Crashers fell out of top spot, but it still brought in big bucks, adding $6.95 million to take its three-week total to $31.14 million.
Red Eye held up best in the top five, dropping 29% to $5.86 million for the week and $14.25 million in total.
Next up was 2 for the Money, which opened in fourth place with $5.27 million.
Coming in fifth was The Transporter 2, down 42% to $4.71 million during the week and $12.95 million after two.
Other new releases to chart this week include The Man, in seventh place with $3.78 million; the direct-to-DVD release, Half Light, which just beat out Underclassman $1.02 million to $1.00 million.
2005 ended on a real hot streak, but 2006 certainly hasn't started that way.
The overall business was down 6.2% for the week to $155.5 million, which is down a massive 17.3% from the same week last year.
Year-to-date, 2006 has brought in $482.4 million or 10.7% less than the same pace last year.
Lord of War held two places on the sales chart, including the Regular Edition taking top spot.
(On a side note, this is not good, because if studios think people would rather spend a bit less to get a DVD with almost no special features, they will stop making DVDs that are packed.)
Meanwhile, Wedding Crashers slipped to second place ahead of the only other newcomer in the top five, 2 for the Money.
Next up were The Transporter 2 and Hustle & Flow.
It was a busy week for new releases, with six more finishing in the top twenty.
Leading the best of the rest was Underclassman and The Man, as the pair finished in ninth and tenth places respectively.
11th place went to the first TV on DVD release of the week, The Adventures of Superman - The Complete Second Season.
Another Superman related release, Lois & Clark - The New Adventures of Superman - The Complete Second Season, came in 17th place just ahead of Lord of War - Special Edition and Underworld - Limited Edition.
Over on the TV on DVD sales charts, Superman related releases took the top two spots with The Adventures of Superman - The Complete Second Season finishing ahead of Lois & Clark - The New Adventures of Superman - The Complete Second Season.
That meant Family Guy - Volume 3 was pushed into third place while 24 - Season 1 jumped into fourth, just ahead of The Complete Fourth Season.
The Mary Tyler Moore Show - The Complete Third Season was the only other new release to chart this week, finishing in tenth place.
However, both Firefly - The Complete Series and The Office - The Complete First Season showed strength long after they were first released, coming in sixth and seventh place respectively.
The TV on DVD rental charts continued to be dominated by 24 with all four season sets finishing in the top six.
However, Lost - The Complete First Season remained in first place with $238,000.
24 - The Complete Fourth Season came in second with $188,000, well ahead of Season 1 with $82,000.
Sopranos - The Complete Fifth Season broke up the 24-fest with its fourth place, $70,000 week.
Rounding out the top five was 24 - Season 3 with $65,000 while while Season 2 just missed the top five with $64,000.
Also of note, Firefly - The Complete Series climbed back into the top ten with $49,000.
The longer this release lasts on the various charts, the more likely a Serenity sequel becomes.
Filed under: Wedding Crashers, Red Eye, Underworld, The Transporter 2, Serenity, Lord of War, Hustle & Flow, The Man, Underclassman, 2 For the Money