'Fantastic Beasts' Finds No. 1 on Disc Sales Charts

5 Apr, 2017 By: Thomas K. Arnold

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Warner Bros. took the top spot on the national home video sales charts for the week ended April 2 with Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them, the fantasy spinoff of the “Harry Potter” series that earned more than $234 million in U.S. theaters and in excess of $813 million globally.

The film, produced and written by “Harry Potter” creator J.K. Rowling, debuted at No. 1 on both the NPD VideoScan First Alert sales chart, which tracks combined DVD and Blu-ray Disc unit sales, and VideoScan's dedicated Blu-ray Disc sales chart.

Sing, the computer-animated musical from Universal Pictures about a group of animals that enter a singing contest hosted by a koala seeking to save his theater, slipped to No. 2 on both charts after bowing at No. 1 the previous week. The film, which earned about $270 million in U.S. theaters, features more than 60 songs from famous artists.

Moana, the musical fantasy from Walt Disney Studios, remained at No. 3 for the second consecutive week after two weeks at No. 1.

Patriots Day, a Lionsgate docu-drama about the Boston Marathon bombing, debuted at No. 4 on both charts. The film earned a domestic gross of $31.9 million but was hailed by the National Board of Review of Motion Pictures as one of the top 10 films of 2016.

Rounding out the top five on the overall disc chart was another new release, the comedy Why Him? from 20th Century Fox. The film, with a theatrical take of just over $60 million, stars Bryan Cranston (of “Breaking Bad” fame) as a father who tries to stop his daughter's Silicon Valley boyfriend (James Franco) from asking her to marry him.

Why Him? was No. 6 on the Blu-ray Disc chart, where the No. 5 spot went to Fox’s Assassin’s Creed, the latest film based on a video game, which debuted the prior week at No. 2.

VideoScan reported Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them generated 61% of its total unit sales from Blu-ray Disc, compared with 48% for Patriots Day and 38% for Why Him?

On Home Media Magazine’s rental chart for the week, Patriots Day debuted at No. 1, with Disney’s Moana sliding to No. 3 after two weeks in the top spot.

The Sony Pictures sci-fi film Passengers remained at No. 2 its third week in stores, with DreamWorks Animation’s Trolls, distributed by Fox, and Marvel’s Doctor Strange, distributed by Disney, each slipping a spot to No. 4 and No. 5, respectively.

Fox’s Shut In soared up the chart to No. 6 now that its 28-day holdback from Redbox is over.

 

 

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