DVD Sales: Wimpy Kicks Some Ass
August 18, 2010
It was a strange week on the sales chart with one new release dominating DVD sales, Diary of a Wimpy Kid, and another dominating the Blu-ray sales chart, Kick Ass. Diary of a Wimpy Kid sold 733,000 units generating $12.46 million in revenue.
Meanwhile, Kick Ass opened in second place with 481,000 units / $10.65 million in opening week sales. Clash of the Titans was pushed into third place with 344,000 units / $5.85 million for the week and 1.20 million units / $20.30 million after two. The Ghost Writer opened in fourth place, but it was well back with 115,000 units while it only earned $1.96 million during its first week on the home market. Rounding out the top five was Heroes: The Final Season with 79,000 units; however, thanks to its TV on DVD pricing, it actually placed fourth in revenue with $3.07 million.
The only other new release to chart was Dora the Explorer: Dora's Big Birthday Adventure, which placed 12th with 60,000 units / $805,000.
Blu-ray sales showed unqualified strength for the first time in weeks, up 12% from last week, and 42% from last year. This is the first time in a month that Blu-ray sales were higher on the year-over-year comparison. Compared to DVD, Blu-ray was also strong selling 14% of total sales and 25% of the top twenty comparison. The number one selling Blu-ray was Kick Ass with 450,000 units. This is very impressive for two reasons. Firstly, the film only sold about 6 million tickets, so a very healthy percentage of people who saw it in theaters bought it on the home market. Secondly, it is nearly the same as its DVD sales figure, something that just last year would have seemed nearly impossible. However, 40% Blu-ray sales ratios are becoming common for first run releases. Clash of the Titans placed second with 180,000 units, while Diary of a Wimpy Kid opened in third place with 100,000 units sold.
Filed under: Video Sales, The Ghost Writer, Kick-Ass, Clash of the Titans, Diary of a Wimpy Kid