For the week that ended on January 13th, Lionsgate Home Entertainment scored the top Blu-ray and overall package media sales with its release of Dredd. This violent, hyper-stylized take on John Wagner and Carlos Ezquerra's cult 2000 AD creation did not set the box office on fire last September - the modestly budgeted feature (it cost an estimated $50 million) only grossed over $32 million worldwide. However, thanks to the strength of Lionsgate's 3D Dredd package, the film debuted at number one on the package media venue, garnering an HD market share of 48% and besting more family-friendly fare like The Dark Knight Rises and Frankenweenie.
Coming in at number two on the Blu-ray list is Disney's Frankenweenie. A moody, blackly comic take on life, death, and the bonds of friendship, the picture finds director Tim Burton returning to his 1984 short film of the same name for inspiration; the movie also marks Burton's first stop-motion-animation feature since 2005's Academy Award-nominated Corpse Bride. This week, Frankenweenie had a decent HD market share of 47% and sold 94% as many Blu-ray copies as Dredd and 95% as many overall units.
Finally, Sony Pictures' Looper rounded out the last of the top three spots on the Blu-ray-only and overall package media lists. Director Rian Johnson's science-fiction thriller garnered strong notices when it premiered theatrically last year, grossing over $166 million worldwide and accruing a Metacritic score of 84%, and though it fell from first to third place this week, the film has continued to perform admirably on the small screen; it sold 52% as many Blu-rays as Dredd (and managed an HD market share of 46%) and 54% as many total units.
I'm so happy Dredd debuted at #1 for its release week. Hopefully enough positive word of mouth gets around, more people will buy it, and the studios and companies will find a way to scrounge out a sequel. It's a shame Pete Travis won't return to direct, but if you're gonna' make a gritty low-budget sci-fi actioner, I'm voting Neill Blomkamp right off the bat as his replacement.
Just got Dredd this week as it was cheaper with Best buys upgrade than release week. Hope it is as good as I hear. Word of mouth must have helped, I bet they were not expecting a #1 with it. I noticed best buy was backordered for a while and local stores were OOS just a day or two after release. They restocked, but that shows it exceeded their projections.
Both films should have fared better at the box office as both were fun!
Great to see TDK Trilogy still in top ten, dad gave me it as part of my xmas gift this year, nice sturdy collection. Already owned the dark knight but neither batman begins or TDKR so it was perfect!
On a side note, is there a way to change your username on this site? Mine is stupid and was made years ago when i was clearly a douchebag.
"Customers of Blu-ray, this is Judge Dredd. In case you have forgotten, this format operates under the same rules as every other format. Frankenweenie is not the law... I am the law."
Glad to see Dredd on top. Never had a chance to go see it in the theatre but watched it the day after the blu-ray release. The best action movie in my opinion that I had seen in a very long time.
I'm ecstatic that this movie [Dredd] is finally getting some sort of vindication.
Considering the $50 million dollar budget, the production for this flick is incredible. The fact that it bombed in the box office is a complete joke; if you want one of the best blood-drenched B+ movies out there, this is it.
I'm so glad Dredd and Frankenweenie faired very well. I loved both film very much. Dredd was a bad-ass good ol' action film that needs a sequel and shoukd have done better at the box office. Frankenweenie was a heartfelt wonderful film that should also done better at the box office. It deserves all the award nominations it has recieved.
