Our DVD and Blu-ray sales estimates are based on weekly retail surveys, which we use to build a weekly market share estimate for each title we are tracking. The market share is converted into a weekly sales estimate based on industry reports on the overall size of the market, including reports published in Media Play News.

For example, if our weekly retail survey estimates that a particular title sold 1% of all units that week, and the industry reports sales of 1,500,000 units in total, we will estimate 15,000 units were sold of that title. The consumer spending estimate is based on the average sales price for the title in the retailers we survey.

We refine our estimates from week to week as more data becomes available. In particular, we adjust weekly sales figures for the quarter once the total market estimates are published by the Digital Entertainment Group. Figures will therefore fluctuate each week, and totals for individual titles can go up or down as we update our estimates.

Because sales figures are estimated based on sampling, they will be more accurate for higher-selling titles.

DEG Watched At Home Chart: Bad Boys Continues Sony’s Good Year

April 30th, 2020

Bad Boys for Life rose to first place on this week’s DEG watched at home chart, thanks to its release on DVD and Blu-ray. This wasn’t Sony’s only entry in the in the top five. In fact, the studio was tied with Disney / Fox with five in the top twenty. More...

DVD and Blu-ray Releases: Bad Boys and The Gentlemen New on Disc

April 21st, 2020

It’s a tough week for new releases on physical disc, although not because of the quality of the new releases. In fact, there are several new releases that I’m interested in. However, Amazon is having issues that’s making it hard to research this column. The biggest release on this week’s list is Bad Boys For Life, but I’m still waiting for the screener for that movie. Guy Ritchie’s The Gentlemen is also a welcome new major release.

The review DVD for Looking for Alaska did arrive, but not until Monday, so the review will have to wait. That said, it has some of the best reviews on this week’s list, and solid extras, which is enough to be the only real contender for Pick of the Week. More...

Theater Averages: 1917 Keeps Racing to the Top

January 15th, 2020

It’s rare for a film to remain in the $10,000 club for three weeks in a row, especially when they expand. However, 1917 managed this rare feat at the weekend with an average of $10,775, despite now playing in well over 3,000 theaters. More...

Theater Averages: 1917 Helps 2020 Start on a Strong Note

January 9th, 2020

There were three films in the $10,000 club, all of them holdovers. 1917 led the way with an average of $56,154 in 11 theaters, which is 7% higher than its opening weekend. I’m very excited for its wide expansion this weekend. On the other hand, Just Mercy fell to an average of $19,154 in four theaters. That’s still good, but perhaps not good enough to thrive in wide release. We finally got numbers for Ashfall as its distributor was closed over the Christmas break. The film earned an average of $16,198 in two theaters during its third weekend of release. More...

Theater Averages: 1917 Helps 2019 End on a Strong Note

January 2nd, 2020

Only four limited release announced box office numbers for the final weekend of 2019, but all four were in the $10,000 club. 1917 led the way with an average of $52,383 in 11 theaters. That was over the three-day weekend. It earned over $1 million during its five-day debut. Just Mercy was well back with an estimated average of $27,250 in four theaters over the three-day weekend. Ip Man: The Finale will probably turn out to be poorly named, because the movie earned over $1 million over the three-day weekend and earned an average of $20,850. I’m sure someone is trying to figure out how to continue the franchise, despite the Finale part of the name. Clemency was next with an average of $17,682 in two theaters. The final film in the $10,000 club was Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker, which earned an average of $16,430 during its second weekend of release. More...

International Box Office: Skywalker Remains Sky High in Last Weekend of 2019

January 1st, 2020

Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker remained on the top of the international chart with an impressive $94.3 million in 52 markets for totals of $363.0 million internationally and $725.2 million worldwide. It got to $750 million worldwide on Monday. The film has had strong runs in a number of major markets, including the U.K. ($51.4 million); Germany ($44.1 million); France ($34.7 million); Japan ($29.2 million); and Australia ($21.2 million). The film opens in Vietnam this weekend and South Korea next weekend, but that’s the end of its run. It will get to $1 billion worldwide, which is more than enough to ensure a healthy profit, but it is far below initial expectations. More...

Christmas Releases: Little Women hopes to have a Large Opening Day

December 24th, 2019

It’s a Tuesday Christmas Eve, and that makes for a challenging situation for box office prognosticators, with Wednesday releases adding to the difficulties. Because of that, I am going to combine the weekend predictions and the limited releases into one shorter column. I will talk about all new releases / expansions for this week without going into detail over their box office chances. Look for a more comprehensive prediction column Thursday as usual. The biggest of the Christmas Day releases should be Little Women; however, that film is making big push for awards, and will likely have very long legs as a result. Conversely, Spies in Disguise is a rare family film opening on Christmas, which makes it a real wild card. More...