Blu-ray Sales: Begins in First, Knight Rises to Top
August 1, 2012
There were quite a few new releases to reach the Blu-ray sales chart this week, including three in the top five. However, the top two spots were held by holdovers: Batman Begins and The Dark Knight. Batman Begins sold 313,000 units / $3.11 million for the week for approximate total sales of 1.8 million units / $23 million. The Dark Knight sold 280,000 units and generating just under $6.00 million for the week and has now sold 7.3 million units sold and generated $116 million in total revenue. It is very likely the best-selling Blu-ray of all time overtaking Avatar, although Avatar did generate more total revenue. (Unfortunately, it started on Blu-ray while the market was small enough that there's uncertainty with early numbers.)
The best of the new releases was The Three Stooges with 195,000 units / $4.49 million. Its opening week Blu-ray share was 34%, which is good for a comedy, especially one that is family friendly. Lockout opened in fourth with 129,000 units / $2.59 million. This was a special effects driven action film, so earning a 54% opening week Blu-ray share is not entirely surprising. Get the Gringo opened in fifth place with 126,000 units / $2.27 million. It too sold more Blu-rays than DVDs with an opening week Blu-ray share of 52%.
Casa de Mi Padre opened in 14th place with 45,000 units / $802,000. Given its genre, an opening week Blu-ray share of 34% isn't bad, but given its target audience, I was expecting a little more. Friends with Kids landed in 21st place with 30,000 units / $594,000 units. It was a dialogue-driven drama, which is one of the worst genres for high definition. It still did reasonably well with an opening week Blu-ray share of 31%.
The overall Blu-ray market got a boost from Batman, which helped it grow 39% in terms of units and 34% in terms of revenue when compared to last week. Compared to last year, growth was even more impressive with 148% more units sold while revenue was 121% higher. DVD sales were a little lower compared to last week, down 15% in terms if units and 14% in terms of revenue. But they were a tiny bit better than last year up less than 1% in terms of units and 9% in terms of revenue. The overall Blu-ray share exploded to 51% in terms of units and 53% in terms of revenue. However, before we celebrate too much, this was an odd week on high definition and things will likely return to normal next week.
Speaking of next week, Star Trek: The Next Generation: Season One should be the best-selling Blu-ray. How much it sells will determine how fast the rest of the franchise comes out, so if you are eagerly awaiting Deep Space Nine, those numbers will be very important. As for last year, Source Code led the way with 141,000 units on Blu-ray. I think we will be able to top that this year.
Filed under: Video Sales, The Dark Knight, Batman Begins, Casa de mi Padre, The Three Stooges, Lockout, Friends with Kids, Get the Gringo