Blu-ray Sales, Mar. 26-April 1: Chipwrecked Surfaces on Top

Posted April 5, 2012 05:40 PM by Josh Katz

Chipwrecked, the latest installment in the Alvin and the Chipmunks film franchise, garnered the number one spot on both the Blu-ray and overall package media charts for the week ending on April 1st. The children's comedy netted Twentieth Century Fox a modest theatrical success last year, when it grossed over $132 million domestically on top of a $75 million budget, and its home video performance so far continues that upward trend. However, the feature did not distinguish itself on the Blu-ray market; only 23% of its total purchased units came from Blu-rays.

Just below Alvin and the Chipmunks: Chipwrecked on the package media and Blu-ray rankings was Universal Studios' Hop. Released on a Friday as opposed to the more standard Tuesday home media street date, Hop had a smaller debut window, and its initial small-screen figures paled in comparison to its Muppets and Girl with the Dragon Tattoo competitors. Nevertheless, the CGI-live-action hybrid has now risen to the second-highest sales position, possibly due to the impending Easter holiday next Sunday; it sold 82% as many copies as Alvin and the Chipmunks: Chipwrecked did (and this difference becomes even smaller on the Blu-ray-only chart, where Hop sold 96% as many Blu-rays as Chipwrecked) and had a larger Blu-ray share percentage, with 27% of its units coming from the HD market.

Last week's winner, The Muppets, has now fallen to third place on the Blu-ray chart as well as on the package media listings. While the film enjoyed a strong Blu-ray market share this week - 35% of its numbers came from the HD format, a percentage higher than both Chipwrecked or Hop - overall sales were down considerably. Consumers purchased only 34% as many total home media units as they did Chipwrecked. With three kids' films all occupying the top three slots, it was inevitable that at least one would not perform as robustly, and The Muppets' April 1st showing illustrates the greater success Chipwrecked and Hop had in attracting the same demographic.

Top Ten Blu-ray Sellers for Week Ending 04/01/12:

Top Five Home Media Sellers for Week Ending 04/01/12 (% of Blu-ray's Market Share Noted):

Alvin and the Chipmunks: Chipwrecked (23%)
Hop (27%)
The Muppets (35%)
Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close (27%)
The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo (47%)

Top Five Blu-ray 3D Sellers for Week Ending 04/01/12 (Per % of Total Unit Sales):

Source: Home Media Magazine | Permalink |

News comments (17 comments)

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prkprkprk

Apr 05, 2012

What has this world come to... Chipwrecked on top yet perfect, much-better movies fall. At least The Bodyguard is doing very well for a catalog release.

mjcavinder

Apr 05, 2012

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alwaysHD

Apr 05, 2012

?????????????????????????????????????????

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repete66211

Apr 05, 2012

Alvin and the Chipmunks: Chipwrecked--a name so bad it sounds like satire--is the #1 Blu-ray seller? This is bad news for movies in general and Blu-ray in particular. Or the other way around, I'm not sure.

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thephantomcat

Apr 05, 2012

Alvin and the Chipmunks 3 was the only new high profile release and the only new family title. Tintin has been out forever and the Muppets has been out for weeks. Where on the list was it supposed to debut? I bought the movie for my nephew and nieces. They enjoyed it and that's all that really matters to me.

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zoodermin

Apr 05, 2012

I'm just glad to see The Muppets, The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo and Game of Thrones in the top 10.

scarface16

Apr 05, 2012

Chipwrecked = 1, Dragon Tattoo = 4...... depression sets in.

mjcavinder

Apr 05, 2012

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PretyHateMachin

Apr 05, 2012

I bought it for my son's Easter basket... shut up! He is 5, what do you expect? HAHA!

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repete66211

Apr 05, 2012

Alvin is #1 and Boothill is the voice of reason? The world is a strange place sometimes....:)

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thephantomcat

Apr 06, 2012

Repete66211, I'm scared, so scared.....

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RBBrittain

Apr 06, 2012

@Boothill: +1. Take a look at the top-20 chart (linked from the page in "source") for the two new catalog releases: The Bodyguard's unit sales were 13.75% of Chipwrecked; Casablanca (No. 15) was 8.97%. (Not to mention TSoM, #13/9.34%, or LatT, #16/7.99%.) Even after adjusting for release-week pricing, WB's gross sales for The Bodyguard & Casablanca combined were less than 1/4 of Fox's for Chipwrecked alone--and slightly less than WB's own gross for Extremely Loud & Incredibly Close (also just under 1/4 of Chipwrecked). It's clear that the studios' quick profits come from new releases; catalog titles are a longer-term proposition, as noted by TSoM (influenced by Amazon's DotW) & LatT (Disney, 'nuff said).

At least WB apparently grossed over twice as much from Casablanca (15.6% of Chipwrecked's gross based on release-week pricing) as The Bodyguard (7.17%), despite the latter's sales advantage from Whitney's death, more sales ads, and Casablanca's prior BDs; that tells you why WB likes its boxes'o'swag, even if I don't.

(Edit: Even if 100% of Casablanca's sales were of the Target movie-only edition--clearly NOT the case--it still outgrossed The Bodyguard. I initially used Target's $39.99 UCE price; even Amazon was $5 higher than Target on the UCE, so the extra gross at other retailers probably offset Target's barebones edition.)

ShellOilJunior

Apr 06, 2012

While I'll probably never see Chipwrecked-- it is good news for the studio AND for future catalog releases (One would think)...

Jimmy Smith

Apr 06, 2012

Why do parents expose there kids to such crap. Seriously The Muppets is a family movie with heart and soul while Chipmunks sequels and Hop are simply dreck that prey on the lower standards children have. I wish more parents would take a greater interest in exposing there children only to quality programing and not wasting there hard earned money on anything with a cute cartoon character on the cover

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