Whole Nation Cherishes Treasure

May 14, 2005

Just one new film managed to finish in the top five on the rental charts, but it easily took top spot. National Treasure was more than 50% higher than its nearest rival with $10.57 million in DVD rentals and $1.46 million in VHS rentals for $12.03 million total. The film also finished first in DVD sales and second in VHS sales, (behind The Incredibles.)

Slipping to second place was Meet the Fockers with $7.78 million in combined rentals ahead of Lemony Snicket's A Series of Unfortunate Events with $6.37. Blade: Trinity lost about a third of its opening week rentals adding $5.25 million while Ocean Twelve was well back with $3.64 million.

Another new release, Andrew Lloyd Webber's Phantom of the Opera just missed the top five with $3.41 million in combined sales while The Sandlot 2 earned $1.29 million, a very strong result for a direct-to-DVD release.

On the down side, the rental market continues to suffer down 10.4% from last weekend to $133.1 million. Year-to-date total rental revenues have hit $2.9 billion, off last years pace by 1.5% so far.

Newcomers lead the DVD sales charts as National Treasure and Andrew Lloyd Webber's Phantom of the Opera finished 1 and 2. Blade: Trinity held up well dropping to third place ahead of Meet the Fockers while last week's winner, Lemony Snicket's A Series of Unfortunate Events, fell all the way to fifth place.

Two TV on DVD entries placed very well on the charts with Gilmore Girls Season Three and Enterprise Season 1 finishing 17th and 18th respectively.


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Filed under: Meet the Fockers, The Incredibles, National Treasure, Ocean's Twelve, Lemony Snicket's A Series of Unfortunate Events, Blade: Trinity, The Phantom of the Opera