Transformers 2 Sells 1.2M Blu-ray Discs 1st week, 500,000 in 1st day

[Kosty]

‘Transformers 2’ Tops Charts, is Top-Selling Title of the Year

Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen
By : Thomas K. Arnold | Posted: 28 Oct 2009

tarnold@questex.com

As expected, Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen, the year’s No. 1 movie, gave the home entertainment business a badly needed boost last week, selling and renting as though it was still the halcyon days of the early 2000s, when consumer spending on DVD was going up by the double digits year after year.

The Paramount Home Entertainment release hit stores Oct. 20 and within a week had become the top-selling home entertainment release of the year, with first-week sales of 7.5 million units, according to Home Media Magazine market research.

The sequel also became the biggest-selling Blu-ray Disc release of 2009, with first-week sales of 1.2 million units.

Transformers also takes the cake for day-one sales, having moved 2 million discs its first day in stores, 500,000 of them on the high-definition Blu-ray Disc format.

“It’s certainly an encouraging sign for the business,” said veteran industry analyst Tom Adams.

He added that the strong Blu-ray Disc sales count is particularly good news, “because if the business is going to turn around, it’s going to be because Blu-ray starts performing, and this is certainly an indicator that Blu-ray is starting to play its role and help stabilize the business.”

Transformers easily debuted at No. 1 on all three charts: the Nielsen VideoScan First Alert sales chart, Home Media Magazine’s rental chart and the Nielsen VideoScan Blu-ray Disc sales chart.

Walt Disney Studios’ The Proposal, the previous week’s top seller and renter, slipped to No. 2, with Paramount/DreamWorks’ Monsters vs. Aliens the week’s No. 3 seller and Universal Studios’ Land of the Lost the No. 3 renter.

On the Blu-ray Disc chart, Disney’s Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs came in second after spending its first two weeks in stores at No. 1.

http://www.homemediamagazine.com/res...tle-year-17428

[Kosty]

25% first day Blu-ray market share?

16% first week Blu-ray market share?

[cleeve]

Holy shit.

[cakefoo]

16% if the 7.5M figure is DVD-only. 19% if it's DVD+BD combined.

late edit: whoops, nvm, my math was BD/DVD

[ack_bak]

So 16% of all home video sales were on Blu-Ray for Transformers? Pretty strong number considering the overall volume sold, and it topped TDK (a much better movie IMHO).

Good news for optical media, and especially Blu-Ray.

[Lee Stewart]

He added that the strong Blu-ray Disc sales count is particularly good news, “because if the business is going to turn around, it’s going to be because Blu-ray starts performing, and this is certainly an indicator that Blu-ray is starting to play its role and help stabilize the business.”

As in, it hasn't been performing up until this title, this year.

[Kosty]

Title	   DVDunits    DVD%  Total BD+DVD    BD%    BDunits    BD/DVD

TR 2 ROTF 6,300,000  84.00%  7,500,000     16.00%  1,200,000   19.05

Thats how I read it so far.

[cakefoo]

Originally Posted by Lee Stewart

As in, it hasn't been performing up until this title, this year.

This just in: Blu-ray, not recession, not digital distribution, not rentals- to blame for overall decline in packaged media sales. /sarcasm

[ack_bak]

Originally Posted by Lee Stewart

As in, it hasn't been performing up until this title, this year.

Note that he states that it is Blu-Ray that can turn the industry around. Not downloads/streaming. Not VOD via cable and sat.

Fact of the matter is that Transformers 2 was not even available for download and that tells you something when you consider it is the highest grossing movie of 2009.

[comixguru]

Good numbers here.

TDK sold 600K the first day, I thought. 1.7M in the first week. The press release on the TDK indicated sales were to consumers and rentals, though.

[GizmoDVD]

Does that include copies sold to rental outlets for either DVD/BD?

[Kosty]

Originally Posted by Lee Stewart

As in, it hasn't been performing up until this title, this year.

yeah yeah yeah , pretty lame for a doom and gloom comment

This is the first big title of the 4Q since you did not want to count Snow White.

Not a bad start.

[Kosty]

Originally Posted by GizmoDVD

Does that include copies sold to rental outlets for either DVD/BD?

Probably not since its according to Home Media research and its not a studio claim. They use sell through based on Nielsen Videoscan first alert and and adjustment for Wal-Mart.

[GizmoDVD]

Originally Posted by ack_bak

Fact of the matter is that Transformers 2 was not even available for download and that tells you something when you consider it is the highest grossing movie of 2009.

Paramount is a stickler for 'download' movies. I don't know if they have any movie appear on the various services the first few weeks of a titles release so it won't cannibalize the DVD/BD sales. It's more of a studio thing than a title.

[ack_bak]

Originally Posted by GizmoDVD

Paramount is a stickler for 'download' movies. I don't know if they have any movie appear on the various services the first few weeks of a titles release so it won't cannibalize the DVD/BD sales. It's more of a studio thing than a title.

But it does not negate the fact that Paramount does not have confidence that downloads are going to replace optical disc anytime soon.