'Frozen' Back Atop British Video Charts

12 May, 2014 By: Erik Gruenwedel

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Disney animated juggernaut helped boost U.K. April home video sales nearly 16% compared with last year

Walt Disney Studios Home Entertainment’s Frozen moved back into first place in the British weekly video sales charts in the week ended May 10, according to new Official Charts Co. data. The animated film sold another 64,000 discs to push its total past 1.7 million discs since its March 31 release in the United Kingdom.

In second spot was newcomer The Railway Man, from Lionsgate U.K., which sold 57,000 discs. Paramount Home Media Distribution’s The Anchorman 2 fell to third spot with 34,000 disc sold, after debuting No. 1 the previous week.

Rounding out the Top 10, Sony Pictures Home Entertainment’s American Hustle came in fourth (3rd the previous week); followed by Warner Home Video’s The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug; The Hunger Games: Catching Fire (Lionsgate); Mandela: Long Walk to Freedom (Anchor Bay); Captain Phillips (Sony); newcomer Gallowwalkers (Signature Entertainment); and Cloudy With a Chance of Meatballs 2 (Sony).

Desolation of Smaug and Railway Man finished No. 1 and No. 2, respectively, among the top selling Blu-ray Disc titles during the week.

Meanwhile, Frozen helped generate a robust April in U.K. home entertainment retail, with sales up 16% year-over-year, according to British Video Association data reported by Cue Entertainment. Total industry disc sales approached 10.9 million units.

Frozen sold 1.5 million discs in April generating more than £17 million ($28.6 million) in revenue, while Desolation of Smaug finished No. 2 with 950,000 discs sold. No. 3, Catching Fire, sold 182,000 discs, excluding 28,000 boxed sets. By comparison, Smaug predecessor, The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey, sold 1.2 million discs during April last year.

The BVA said Blu-ray sales increased 16% year-over-year, largely driven by new releases, which were up 35%. BD catalog sales fell 3.5%, with average BD catalog prices down 7%. The format represented 13% of packaged media sales in April.

Regardless, the BVA said year-to-date retail sales through April were down 12% at 45.7 million discs compared to the same period last year.

 

 

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