Home Market Numbers: Hot Pursuit Can't Catch Holdovers

September 10, 2015

Hot Pursuit

There were more new releases to chart this week than there were last week. However, none of the new releases from August 11th were unable to unseat the holdovers on the combined DVD and Blu-ray chart for August 16th chart. This left Insurgent in first place with 303,000 units / $4.85 million for the week, giving it totals of 1.17 million units / $18.95 million after two weeks of release.

Home remained in second place with 280,000 units / $4.99 million for the week and 1.88 million units / $34.94 million after three weeks of release. The best new release of the week was Hot Pursuit, which I completely forgot came out. In my defense... 8% positive reviews. Calling it forgettable would be a compliment. That film landed in third place with 265,000 units / $4.71 million for an opening week Blu-ray share of 28%. That's fine, for a comedy. Unfriended was well back in fourth place with 100,000 units / $1.73 million for the week giving it an opening week Blu-ray share of 41%. That's good, especially for a film that doesn't need to be seen in high definition to be enjoyed. Descendants rounded out the top five with 94,000 units / $1.40 million for the week, giving it totals of 281,000 units / $4.17 million. This is even more amazing, as it is only out on DVD. It earned fifth place on the combined chart, but it is only out on DVD.

The next best new release was Northmen - A Viking Saga, which earned tenth place with 57,000 units / $618,000. Its opening week Blu-ray share was 30%, which is low for the genre, but it was a VOD premiere, so this is not a shock. Police Story: Lockdown was right behind with 56,000 units / $508,000. Its opening week Blu-ray share was 42%, which is good for an action film that was practically direct-to-Video here.

The overall Blu-ray chart really slumped this week falling 34% in terms of units and 33% in terms of revenue when compared to last week. Compared to last year, things were even worse, as the sales were down 38% in terms of units and 44% in terms of revenue. DVD sales also fell, but not to this extent. Because of this, the overall Blu-ray share fell to 30%, down from 38% from last week and 33% from last year.

The overall DVD sales market was also down, but by not nearly as much as the Blu-ray market was. The total market was down 28% in terms of units and 38% in terms of revenue when compared to last week. When compared to last year, there were 3.0% less units sold, while the revenue was 11% lower.

There were no first-run releases next week, but Walt Disney Animation Studios Short Films Collection should compensate for that, at least compared to this week. This weekend last year, sales were led by The Amazing Spider-Man 2, which sold 1.11 million combined units and dominated the Blu-ray and DVD charts. I don't think 2015 will be able to keep up with last year's pace. It might not even be close.

- Combined Blu-ray and DVD Chart

Filed under: Video Sales, Home, The Divergent Series: Insurgent, Hot Pursuit, Unfriended, Jing cha ju shi 2013, Northmen: A Viking Saga, Descendants