Blu-ray Sales: Expectations Adjusted Downward
July 7, 2011
The Adjustment Bureau led the way on this week's Blu-ray sales chart, but with just a fraction of last week's winning total. It sold 122,000 units and generated $2.87 million in consumer spending, which is very low for the number one film. However, its Blu-ray ratio was 35%, which is good for this type of film. (At its heart it is a romance, with a slice of science fiction thrown in.)
Unknown was right behind with 110,000 units / $2.35 million. Its opening week Blu-ray ratio was 32%, which is acceptable but not something to brag about. Battle: Los Angeles sold an additional 91,000 units over the week for totals of $466,000 units / $10.35 million after two. It is a highly visual film, so doing well on Blu-ray is not surprising. On the other hand, live action kids movies are among the worst performers on High Definition, so it should come as no shock that Diary of A Wimpy Kid: Rodick Rules only managed fourth place with 62,000 units / $1.29 million. Its opening week Blu-ray ratio was just 19%, but as bad as that is compared to the market average, it is in line with expectations for the genre. True Grit fell from second place to fifth with 55,000 units / $881,000 for the week and totals for 1.09 million units / $18.53 million after three.
As it did on the DVD sales chart, The Eagle just missed the top five with 46,000 units / $1.09 million in opening week sales. Its Blu-ray ratio was 32% and again that's acceptable. Cedar Rapids opened in 16th place with 13,000 units / $269,000. Its Blu-ray ratio was 34%, which is great for a character-driven limited release.
This week proved that the overall Blu-ray market is still heavily dependent on the top of the chart, unlike DVD sales which have a nice cushion of catalogue titles to help comfort the market from sharp declines. Overall, sales were down 49% in terms of units and 44% in terms of dollars when compared to last week. On the other hand, when compared to last year, Blu-ray sales increased by 18% in terms of units and 16% in terms of dollars, and this happened despite a decline in DVD sales compared to last year. Next week we will have the numbers for The Lord of the Rings: Blu-ray Box Set, and that could prove rather interesting.
Filed under: Video Sales, Battle: Los Angeles, The Eagle, True Grit, The Adjustment Bureau, Cedar Rapids, Unknown, Diary of a Wimpy Kid: Rodrick Rules