DVD Sales - New Releases Die, Hard
December 10, 2007
There were no new releases to reach the top five on the sales chart this week and this left Live Free or Die Hard in first place with 716,000 units sold this week.
That raises its total sales to 2.78 million units and $47.60 million.
Shrek the Third was very close behind with 702,000 units sold for $10.58 million in sales; after three weeks the film has pulled in $90.09 million in sales from 5.94 million units, which is a little lower than expected.
Hairspray added 557,000 units to its running tally of 2.16 million sold while its sales jumped $11.05 million to $43.34 million.
Ratatouille rose a spot to fourth with 540,000 in sales for the week and 6.71 million after a month.
It also nearly crossed the $100 million mark in sales after adding $7.91 million in sales over the week for a total of $99.96 million.
On the other hand, The Santa Clause 3 - The Escape Clause moved in the other direction, slipping to fifth place with 476,000 for the week and 1.96 million in total.
However, sales of $35.19 million so far are still strong considering the film's theatrical take and other factors.
The best of the new releases was Waitress in ninth place with 221,000 units sold for first week sales of $4.41 million.
This is a great start for a limited release.
Tenth place went to Mr. Bean's Holiday, which sold 210,000 units for sales of $3.93 million.
And one place back from that release was Bratz: The Movie with a nearly identical 210,000 units sold.
However, in terms of dollars it beat Mr. Bean's Holiday with $4.21 million.
The first direct-to-DVD Futurama release, Bender's Big Score, opened in 14th place with 174,000 units sold / $3.13 million in sales.
Moving further back we get to Hot Rod in 17th place with 138,000 units sold for $2.76 million in sales.
The Special Edition of Peter Pan: Return to Neverland placed 18th with 129,000 units sold for the week, which is a strong result for a DVD that is practically just a re-issue of the earlier release.
Just making the top 20 was I Know Who Killed Me with 112,000 units sold while Skinwalkers was just behind with 108,000 units sold.
As for the latest update on the Format War, Blu-Ray once again won the week, as it has every week this year.
The reported numbers had Blu-Ray winning by a 58% to 42% margin, which was one of the closest weeks this year, but still a wide margin.
Additionally, since HD-DVD came out with more releases, including more first run releases and bigger total box office for these films, it has to be seen as disappointing that HD-DVD couldn't win this week.
HD-DVD has two more real chances to win a week this year, this upcoming week when The Bourne Ultimatum comes out and the final week of the year when no Blu-Ray exclusive releases come out.
Filed under: Video Sales, Shrek the Third, Ratatouille, Live Free or Die Hard, Hairspray, The Santa Clause 3: The Escape Clause, Mr. Bean’s Holiday, Waitress, Hot Rod, Bratz, I Know Who Killed Me, Skinwalkers