Blu-ray Sales: Shadows Brighten Blu-ray
June 27, 2012
It was a nearly record-breaking week on the Blu-ray sales chart this week, which is very strange for this time of year. Granted, we had the last of the winter blockbusters, Sherlock Holmes: A Game of Shadows, leading the new releases, but it was still better than expected. That film sold 1.77 million units generating $40.71 million for a for an opening week Blu-ray share of 54%.
Act of Valor remained in second place with 423,000 units / $9.95 million for the week giving it totals of 1.34 million units / $28.85 million after two. Ghost Rider: Spirit of Vengeance landed in third place with 344,000 units / $6.87 million for an opening week Blu-ray share of 49%. This is a little weaker than expected, given its visual nature. Safe House fell to fourth place with 231,000 units / $5.54 million for the week giving it totals of 1.05 million units / $21.90 million after two. Meanwhile, John Carter was right behind with 221,000 units / $5.08 million over the week for a total of 1.18 million / $24.22 million, also after two.
Superman vs. The Elite took eighth place with 88,000 units / $1.58 million. Its opening week Blu-ray share was 68%, which is absolutely amazing. Granted, it's aimed at the perfect demographic for Blu-ray, but this is still a great start. On the other hand, Tyler Perry's Good Deeds landed in ninth place with 86,000 units / $1.72 million. Its opening week Blu-ray share was just 21%, but that's common for Tyler Perry films. The final new release to chart was Entourage: Season Eight, which opened in 21st place with 29,000 units / $918,000. TV on DVD releases rarely do that well on Blu-ray, so a 24% Blu-ray share is good.
The Blu-ray market was relatively flat compared to last week down 1% in terms of units and up 4% in terms of dollars. It was the fifth best week in terms of total revenue at $95 million and third best in terms of total units sold at 3.95 million. (Although there is a tight collection of weeks at the top, so when final numbers come in, these rankings could change.) Compared to last year, Blu-ray sales were 273% higher in terms of units and 345% higher in terms of revenue. I was expecting growth on the year-over-year comparison, but nothing like this. DVD sales were also relatively flat when compared to last week, as they were 4% higher in terms of units and 4% lower in terms of revenue. Compared to last year, DVD sales were 63% higher in terms of units and 68% higher in terms of revenue, so home market sales were strong across the board. The overall Blu-ray share dropped by one percentage point to 47% in terms of units, but rose to 56% in terms of revenue.
Next week, the best selling release on Blu-ray should be Project X, which is not a good sign for the overall sales. Fortunately, last year was even worse with Diary of a Wimpy Kid: Rodrick Rules leading the way on DVD and The Adjustment Bureau led the way on Blu-ray with just 86,000 units. If project X doesn't sell at least twice that, I would be shocked. Sherlock Holmes: A Game of Shadows might sell almost as much during its second week of release than the entire market did last year.
Filed under: Video Sales, John Carter, Sherlock Holmes: A Game of Shadows, Ghost Rider: Spirit of Vengeance, Safe House, Project X, Tyler Perry's Good Deeds, Act of Valor, Superman vs. The Elite