'Star Wars' and 'Thor' Drive Blu-ray to a New Sales Record
Posted September 27, 2011 10:06 PM by Tony Sanchez
Star Wars keeps making news for the Blu-ray format as its successful release, along with the smashing debut of Thor have led to a new weekly Blu-ray revenue share record. For week ending 9/17/11, Blu-ray's market share of total package media sales was an all time best 35%. The new mark bested the previous record of 27% established on week ending 4/17/11.
Blu-ray sales revenue for the week registered a new 2011 high of $57.32 million. The increase of Blu-ray sales receipts, over the same week last year, was an impressive 197.2%. As Q4 2011 begins, the Blu-ray format appears poised to set more sales records.
Good news for Blu-ray. Plus, with a number of catalogue titles hitting the shelves in Q4 coming up, this is sure to be a most impressive year for the format.
Always glad to see blu-ray doing well. I'm not sure any catalouge titles will match the sales of Star Wars, but it's great to see the format becoming more popular.
It's interesting to hear some of these tech experts talk about Blu-ray like it's DOA, and claim streaming is the future.
The trends don't show that.
People like their music digitally. They still prefer their movies in disc format. Until the internet can increase speeds 10 fold, this will not change.
I'm looking forward to the day when this sort of percentage is achievable without massive releases and we get it every week without fail. I figure it might take another year - but that'll be a good day.
The sales share of 35% is great news for Blu Ray! I am a big fan of physical media. I am in the process of buying a new computer and all I hear from sales people (promoting Apple products) is that physical media is history and everything is going to streaming. Of course I reply that recent studies show that consumers still prefer to own and / or have physical media in their homes. Not to mention that the sound quality from a Blu Ray is HD amazing compared to 5.1 dolby digital! If Apple believes that Blu Ray is not here to stay they are sorely mistaken!
Odd how I TOTALLY understand what you are saying!?!??
I still think it is crazy and blasphemous to lump StarWars in with Thor.
I actually really like Thor, so please don't think I'm trying to discount it. Thor just isn't in the same league as the sacred trilogy of life. Sure...the numbers you have may justify your news article NOW, but next year, StarWars is still going to be selling strong. This isn't my opinion, it is history. I was the same for DvD, Laserdisc, VHS, Beta and stone carving.
Star Wars was "lumped in" with Thor because Thor helped it break the record. If Thor hadn't sold as well, the fifteenth version of Star Wars to be released would not have broken any sales records.
You're right that Thor isn't in the same league as Star Wars, though. Star Wars is in the same league as the Goonies: a film that people saw when they where children, which doesn't hold up very well, but has great nostalgic value. Which is exactly why Lucas keeps tinkering with it: to try and keep it fresh for a new generation, and to get the people who liked it as kids to keep buying the same thing over and over and over again.
I am so happy, not just for Blu-ray, but that Thor is contributing. It was one of my absolute favorite movies of the year and was a joyous success on all counts, the fact that its sales have done so well (especially for Blu-ray) is even better. And Star Wars did great, which is also good news. One look at the calendar for the rest of the year means this could be the best year for Blu-ray in terms of sales. I hope the numbers only go up!
OK, call me a noob, but I really don't get why recently some big ticket new releases are being released on Fridays. (Star Wars, X-men, Transformers 3, and others). I thought Tuesday was agreed upon as "release day" by the movie companies in order to market their sales figures together.
What advantage does a studio have in releasing on Friday??
I wish the media would cover more stories that Blu ray is not headed to the graveyard. It should not be included with DVD and the supposed death of optical discs. Honestly it has been quite annoying trying to look at Blu rays lately at Fry's and Best Buy because there were so many people also looking, and in my way. :-)
That makes me so happy to see how dominate Blu Ray is becoming. Once the rest of the Q4 releases come out including Jurassic Park, I see those sales continuing and maybe even rising once Christmas comes and everyone buys Star Wars for other people!!!
I am happy that Blu-ray sales are picking up and more people embracing the new technology. Hopefully, Studios start bringing more catalog titles to bluray format.
You can pledge your allegiance to BD's continued success by canceling your Netflix or any other streaming service account immediately. It really is that simple.
Friday release dates are a marketing trick. Studios think it makes their title stand out more if it's the lone release on a given day, and it feeds into the idea that people will buy a title and spend the weekend watching it. The old model settled on Tuesday because it would give smaller retailers time to get the titles before the weekend. But now with Internet outlets and a few big chains dominating the market, studios don't care as much about mom-and-pop stores selling titles.
Home Media Magazine will have a story about this on Monday
