'Avatar' Sales Juggernaut Continues

25 Apr, 2010 By: Thomas K. Arnold

The search for a "killer app" for Blu-ray Disc is over.

It's Avatar.

April 25 20th Century Fox Home Entertainment reported that consumers purchased a record 2.7 million Blu-ray Disc units of Avatar in the first four days of the film's home entertainment release, making it both the fastest-selling Blu-ray Disc ever and the top-selling Blu-ray Disc of all time, period.

The previous record holder was Warner Home Video's The Dark Knight, which has sold 2.5 million Blu-ray Disc units since its December 2008 release.

Avatar sold more in just four days, in a move observers say might break the Blu-ray Disc market wide open.

“When everyone sees what Blu-ray can do for this movie, they're never going to look back,” said one long-time industry observer. “This release will make the format.”

The total sales count for Avatar after four days in stores is 6.7 million units, 20th Century Fox said, accounting for both DVD and Blu-ray Disc. In the comparable time frame, consumers bought 5.2 million copies of The Dark Knight. Sales numbers are for North America (the United States and Canada) only.