'Doctor Strange' Casts a Spell Over Disc Sales Charts

8 Mar, 2017 By: Thomas K. Arnold, John Latchem

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Marvel Studios' Doctor Strange proved magical on the home video sales charts the week ended March 5, outselling its nearest competitor by more than a 4-to-1 margin.

The 14th entry in the Marvel Cinematic Universe superhero franchise that includes all the "Avengers" characters earned $232.6 million at the domestic box office and easily debuted at No. 1 on the NPD VideoScan First Alert sales chart, which tracks combined DVD and Blu-ray Disc unit sales, and the dedicated Blu-ray Disc sales chart. Blu-ray Disc accounted for 76% of Doctor Strange's first-week tally.

Lionsgate's Hacksaw Ridge, one of two Academy Award winners — and Best Picture nominees — released on disc by Lionsgate just before the Oscars, slipped to No. 2 on both charts after debuting in the top spot a week earlier. The film about a pacifist World War II medic in its second week sold 22% as many copies as Doctor Strange.

DreamWorks Animation's Trolls, distributed by Fox, was No. 3 on both charts after spending the prior week at No. 2 and the two preceding weeks as the top-selling disc.

Rounding out the top five on both charts were a pair of films from Paramount. The newcomer Allied, a World War II romantic spy drama starring Brad Pitt and Marion Cotillard and directed by Robert Zemeckis, debuted at No. 4 overall, followed by the sci-fi drama Arrival at No. 5. The result was flipped on the Blu-ray Disc chart, as Blu-ray Disc accounted for 60% of Arrival unit sales in its third week, compared with 48% for the first week of Allied.

This year's Best Picture Oscar winner, Moonlight, released on disc by Lionsgate two days after the awards ceremony, debuted at No. 6 on both charts, with 36% of its unit sales coming in the Blu-ray format.

Manchester by the Sea, the other Oscar winner released by Lionsgate released prior to the award ceremony, slid out of the top five, finishing at No. 7 on the overall disc sales chart and No. 8 on the Blu-ray Disc sales chart. The film, which won Oscars for Best Actor (Casey Affleck) and Best Original Screenplay (Kenneth Lonergan, who also directed), had debuted at No. 4 on both charts the prior week.

On Home Media Magazine's weekly rental chart, Hacksaw Ridge retained the top spot for a second consecutive week. Fox's Masterminds came off its 28-day holdback at Redbox rental kiosks to move up to No. 2, pushing Arrival to No. 3. Moonlight debuted at No. 4, with Manchester by the Sea dropping to No. 5.

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