Avatar Becomes the First Film to Sell More Than a Million Copies on Blu-ray in the UK
Posted January 14, 2013 04:48 PM by Webmaster
The British Video Association (BVA) announced today that James Cameron's Avatar has become the first film to sell more than 1 million copies on Blu-ray in the United Kingdom. In 2012, sales of Blu-ray discs rose 8.9% locally compared to 2011.
Amongst Top 10 Films, Blu-ray disc sales increased their share to 30.1% compared with 25.8% in 2011. There are now more than 4,800 titles of all genres available on Blu-ray.
In 2012, people in the UK also purchased more 3D BD players than standard Blu-ray models. Currently, there are over 2 million 3DTVs in UK homes, and 3D Blu-ray sales are up 188% compared to 2011.
2012 Top 10 best sellers by volume:
1 The Dark Knight Rises (Warner Home Video)
2 Avengers Assemble (Walt Disney Studios)
3 Prometheus (20th Century Fox Home Entertainment)
4 Sherlock Holmes - A Game Of Shadows (Warner Home Video)
5 The Amazing Spider-Man (Sony Pictures Home Entertainment)
6 The Hunger Games (Lionsgate Films)
7 The Twilight Saga - Breaking Dawn - Part 1 (eOne Entertainment)
8 Harry Potter & The Deathly Hallows – Part 2 (Warner Home Video)
9 Ted (Universal Pictures UK)
10 Mission Impossible - Ghost Protocol (Paramount Home Entertainment)
2012 Top 10 3D Blu-ray best sellers by volume:
1 Hugo (EIV)
2 Prometheus (20th Century Fox Home Entertainment)
3 Avengers Assemble (Walt Disney Studios)
4 Underworld Awakening (EIV)
5 Avatar (20th Century Fox Home Entertainment)
6 Ghost Rider- Spirit of Vengeance (eOne Entertainment)
7 Wrath of the Titans (Warner Home Video)
8 The Three Musketeers (eOne Entertainment)
9 The Amazing Spider-Man (Sony Pictures Home Entertainment)
10 The Adventures of Tintin – The Secret of the Unicorn (Paramount Home Entertainment)
Good to see BD and 3BD spreading so well....now for Ultraviolet to spread. In the last week I've had to explain to TWO moderators of a movie forum what UV was and one movie director.
Whether you like 3D or not (personally I got the Sony 853 TV recently and have been mega impressed with most of the 3D films I've picked up) I think it's great news for Blu-ray generally, as clearly it's getting more people into the format looking at the fact that most people picking up Blu-ray players are going for 3D models. And if something like Avatar helps, even if only for its stunning visuals, then that's got to be a good thing, even if you hate the movie.
Around my offices (in the UK) though it seems like the average Joe or Joanne is still a bit stuck in their ways with the DVD format - without showing people direct comparisons (which I have done in a couple of cases, and converted them!) they appear to be a little ignorant of the benefits.
The top 10 best sellers don't surprise me, but I find it highly amusing when stats are quoted which talk about more 3D players being sold than standard players! Of course this would be the case, as most players these days are 3D capable. I don't therefore think this can be used as any type of indicator as to 3D becoming more popular, especially when you have the likes of Panasonic declaring at CES that their investment in 3D "hasn't paid off", and their customers are telling them that "3D is not a differentiating factor in their buying decision"..... basically meaning no-one cares about 3D!
Well, what does Panasonic expect when they had exclusive 3D title availability rights for 2 years on this title and a few others! It doesn't exactly make sense to buy a 3D player and 3D TV "just" so you can get a movie, and I'm sure they had to pay Cameron a good bundle for Avatar!
Going by what I see, 3D in the home - and in theaters - is doing quite well.
