BD Snags over Half of Watchmen Ultimate Cut Sales

According to data from Nielsen VideoScan First Alert for the week ended November 15, 54.31% of all sales of 'Watchmen: The Ultimate Cut' 'Watchmen: The Ultimate Cut' came from the Blu-ray edition. This is a new first-week record for a title simultaneously released on Blu-ray and DVD. 'Watchmen' had already set a record 36% BD market share when the Director's Cut was released (see blu-ray.com post of July 30).
Source: Home Media Magazine | Permalink	Relevant for:

talbers23  » Nov 23, 2009
Amazing!

Rhylliam  » Nov 23, 2009
Excellent.

thespindoc  » Nov 23, 2009
I do believe the inevitable has started...DVD's downward spiral begins this holiday season. With Blu players going for $100 or less, this title will not be the only one with more than 50% market share this holiday season. All we need now if for Wally World, Tarshee, Amazon, Best Buy and the others to keep up with demand. Inventory could be the only thing holding us back now!:^)

ghebert  » Nov 23, 2009
I am hoping that Warner takes note of the home video success of this movie and decides to make similar movies in the future even though they might be a hard R rating.

Minimejer05  » Nov 23, 2009
Awesome news. So glad watchmen is doing so well

TTUBatfan2008  » Nov 23, 2009
"Awesome news. So glad watchmen is doing so well." I actually think this is proof of how poorly it's doing. The only people buying it are nerds. The primary Blu-ray market is nerds. I love Watchmen, but mainstream audiences did not. The box office shows it and the Blu-ray percentage shows it too. It's a much smaller seller than, say, Star Trek or Transformers.

Dynamo of Eternia  » Nov 23, 2009

TTUBatfan2008: "I actually think this is proof of how poorly it's doing. The only people buying it are nerds. The primary Blu-ray market is nerds. I love Watchmen, but mainstream audiences did not. The box office shows it and the Blu-ray percentage shows it too. It's a much smaller seller than, say, Star Trek or Transformers." I think you've hit the nail right on the head. This ultimate cut is really aimed at the die hard of die hard Watchmen fans, aka "nerds". Which I don't mean as an insult or anything (I am a nerd myself in many ways, though to be honest I'm not much of a Watchmen fan, myself, but that's besides the overall point). The point is that I can very easily see the people who would have the most interest in something like the Ultimate cut of Watchmen, which has the animated movie cut together with the live action movie, to be something that would very much appeal to the same crowd that is much more likely to have Blu-Ray in their homes. I'd really like to know how many copies of this Ultimate Cut were sold in total between both formats (Blu-Ray and DVD), and how that total numbers compared to the previous Watchmen release, and also to bigger titles like Dark Knight, Transformers 2, etc. I think that this 54% will seem far less impressive when people realize that it is 54% of a much much lower number than those other releases. While it may be a larger percentage of all copies of Ultimate Watchmen that were sold, the total number of Blu-Ray units of this release sold is likely FAR less than Dark Knight, Transformers 2, and even the previous Watchmen release. The sales of those releases did more for the format than this is doing.

doctorD  » Nov 23, 2009
I own both and IMO this version is the only way to watch the movie especially if you are a fan of the comic.

RIKANA  » Nov 23, 2009
Exlent! So happy:) RI

TTUBatfan2008  » Nov 23, 2009

Dynamo, that's exactly my point. I too did not mean any harm with my nerd comment. I'm a nerd myself. "Takes one to know one" and all that jazz. I'm fairly confident that the high percentage of Blu-ray buyers for the Watchmen Director's Cut and Watchmen Ultimate Cut is a result of the fact that the movie did not break into the mainstream other than from a marketing standpoint. It was pretty much a flop at the box office compared to its budget, and I would imagine a vast majority of its money was made from nerds like myself (I saw it twice in theaters).

Dynamo of Eternia  » Nov 23, 2009
TTUBatfan2008: "Dynamo, that's exactly my point. I too did not mean any harm with my nerd comment. I'm a nerd myself. "Takes one to know one" and all that jazz. " Just to clarify, I didn't mean to imply that you meant it as an insult (I figured that you meant it the same way that I did), I was just clarifying before someone else fired back assuming it to be an insult.

aphex  » Nov 23, 2009
This does not show how "poorly it's doing" It may be a misleading indication that blu-ray is prevailing over DVD, but it's not an indicator of how poor it's doing.

TTUBatfan2008  » Nov 23, 2009

I'd say it is doing poorly. And by "it" I'm not talking about Blu-ray in general but rather this release of Watchmen specifically. The MSRP on it is ridiculous and the only people buying it are diehard fans. This isn't the Transformers fanbase we're dealing with here, it's Watchmen. The fact that the Blu-ray version has over 50% of units sold is a sign that the DVD isn't selling very well. Like it or not, DVD does still rule the roost and if it's doing poorly with this particular release, then the odds are pretty strong that the Blu-ray's 50% share is really 50% of a lousy total.

wallendo  » Nov 23, 2009

This title sold 1.34% the number of BD's as "Up". "Cars" sold 58% BD market share, and outsold "Watchman Ultimate" on BD. I would say that "Watchmen" is not doing well, but I wonder what the studio expected as far as sales. Click on the "Home Media Magazine" link in the article to see the numbers for yourself. I wonder what percentage of BD sales of Watchmen Ultimate went to PS3 owners? It is not a number which would be easy to find, but I suspect is very high.

Archangelic  » Nov 23, 2009
It is time to spend yet more money on this movie...

servocrow  » Nov 23, 2009

BR market is still a NICHE market, similair in alot of ways to LD in the late 80's...HOWEVER I do feel that BR will slowly start to catch on esp. ths holiday season , with more contemporary titles being released with some studios really pushing titles (ie, DISNEY) I think it will "catch on" more than it has in the past. Hardware dropping in prices along with more titles being pushed out and offered.. things are loooking good....could things be better...sure..

TTC1984  » Nov 23, 2009
I intentionally didn't buy the directors cut because I knew this version would be coming along eventually. Hopefully, I'll get it for x-mas (I'd buy it now but just got laid off and i need to save my money...)

nathanp  » Nov 23, 2009
Eventually I'll grab this, but I don't want to get rid of my Owl Ship edition, that thing looks pretty sweet on my end table.

fettastic  » Nov 23, 2009
BD passed LD YEARS ago. Spoken like a true redboi. It hasn't been "niche" in quite awhile. I didn't buy the Ultimate Cut because I think the animated sequences will pull you out of the intense drama of the film and the only new extras are a couple of commentaries. I already have TotBF and the Motion Comic so there was nothing in it for me.

Wdm81  » Nov 23, 2009
wow thats good to hear, I didn't think anyone would be buying this version as it's just an amalgamation of the whats already out there and kinda a waste of money if you already own the directors cut but any good bluray news is good news...any word on the record Star trek likley has set in the past week?

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