Blu-ray Sales, Sept. 12-18: The Force is With Thor
Posted September 21, 2011 10:18 PM by Tony Sanchez
For the week ending 09/18/11, Thor had a thunderous debut on the home video market as it became the No. 1 unit seller on both the Blu-ray and the overall sales charts. Produced by Marvel Studios and distributed by Paramount Pictures, the film became the number one superhero movie of the summer as its finished its theatrical run with a worldwide total of $449 million. Thor was mighty for Blu-ray as it finished its first week in stores by slamming 61% of its total package media sales for the HD format.
The most popular topic of discussion in the Internet movie forums for the last couple of weeks has been about the anticipated Blu-ray release of Star Wars. Putting all debate to the side and focusing on sales, Star Wars had an impressive debut for the Blu-ray format as it finished its first three days of HD release by capturing the No. 2 spot on the Blu-ray sales chart and the No. 3 spot on the aggregate sales chart. The Complete Saga sold 64.49% as many units as Thor in Blu-ray and 39.45% as many units overall. Considering that the Star Wars Set was retailing for around $80 and The God of Thunder for approximately $25 in Blu-ray, less than $20 for the DVD version, there is no doubt that The Complete Saga was the week's No. 1 title in terms of the revenue generated.
Continuing its strong run of disc sales, X-Men: First Class, finished the week at No. 3 in the Blu-ray sales chart. The mutants managed 54% of its total unit sales from BD discs. At No. 4 on the Blu-ray sales charts was Spartacus: Gods of the Arena. The gladiators slayed 39% of their package media sales for Blu.
Star Wars: Original Trilogy contributed to the revenue attributed to the series by landing on the No. 5 spot on the Blu-ray sales chart and No. 13 on the overall sales chart. Star Wars: Prequel Trilogy only managed to climb to No. 15 in the BD sales chart.
Any chance of updating how many units Star Wars pushed on Blu on the first day (or first couple)? I'm curious, as I'm sure quite a few of the professional market analysts are, to compare its release to the release on DVD.
Very impressive start for STAR WARS, taking #2, #5, and #15 spots in only a few days of release. Also very telling how popular the original films are compared to the prequel trilogy.
"Thor#1 over Star Wars says it all, Lucas and Netflix CEO sitting in a tree.....lol"
Yes this does say it all. An 80 dollar BD set of a 30 year old saga made more revenue than a 25 dollar new release movie that had 3 more more days to sell units. Spin his however you want Lucas bashers. SW on BD is a bigger success than anyone thought. It's been sold out since Sunday at most retailers. And it's second week of sales will be through the roof due it releasing on a Friday.
"I am curious as to why Thor was not subdivided by editions and Star Wars was."
That is interesting since there are more than a few reasons for "waiting" on the prequel but no matter the Inspector well stated the main point of this comparison. Thor is a diverting little piece but it is no Star Wars.
I'm surprised Thor beat Star Wars (even if it did have 3 more days) since it's a mediocre movie and Star Wars is, well, Star Wars. When I picked mine up at Best Buy Friday the Star Wars display was almost empty and there were still lots of Thor copies. I'm not surprised that the out of the seperate sets the OT outsold the PT as much as it did. I wonder if Lucas did release the unaltered OT (remastered for HD picture and sound of course) how much it would sell.
I call it a tie. Thor was a new release, whereas most people already own star wars in some form. Curious as to why separate figures aren't posted for the 3d blu ray, I'd like to know how it compares to the 2d thor release.
im sorry but i have to answer politly to andyman 1970 saying thor is a mediocre movie. i disagree. i would even say that kenneth branagh made a masterpiece. the tone, the atmosphere,was perfect. the score was beautifull and i loved the characters. yes im not so big on the girl that screams facebook,ipad and all actual gadgets evrynow and then,but she manage to look casual ,sadly lol.iwould say other than that, the cast was magnificent, the acting was better than we deserved. movie sets and costume was top notch,if they could do one movie on asgard and other space only, it could give lord of the rings a run for its money. sadly it wont happen because kenneth branagh left the project:( that being said, i am a huge lord of the rings fan (both books and movies) and i love star wars as well, i bought the complete saga set. dont be too hasty to judge a movie my friend. i suggest you rent thor again, and watch it ALONE on a big screen.i dont garentee you will love it. but you probably wont judge it so hard.
sorry again for my not sooo good english, im doing my best.:D
I'm curious how the second season of Glee did last week. The fact that it didn't even crack the top ten makes me nervous that season 3 on blu won't see the light of day...
It's amazing how Star Wars continues it's massive populaity. The entire series cost a huge $80 and came in second while the orignals costing $40 came in 5th and even the inferior prequels came in #15...Safe to say Star Wars dominated this chart.
I imagine the Prequels are only at 15 because people who like the Prequels also like the Originals. Therefore, people who like the Prequels were buying the complete saga.
No one in their right mind would say the Prequels are as good or as popular as the originals. And I can't imagine someone wanting the prequels, but not the originals too. Which means the set is competing with the complete Saga in terms of sales. And yet clearly the Prequels sold on their own. The fact that they hit #15 says something. And it's not bad. They obviously have a fan base.
