'Frozen' No. 1 for Third Week; 'Anchorman 2' Tops Rentals

9 Apr, 2014 By: Thomas K. Arnold

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Paramount’s Anchorman 2: The Legend Continues gave it a good try, but the sequel to the 2004 comedy about a full-of-himself San Diego newscaster couldn’t topple Walt Disney’s Frozen from the top of the national home video sales charts the week ended April 6.

The animated feature remained at No. 1 for the third consecutive week on both the Nielsen VideoScan First Alert sales chart, which tracks overall DVD and Blu-ray Disc combined sales, and Nielsen’s dedicated Blu-ray Disc sales chart.

Anchorman 2, meanwhile, debuted at No. 3 on both charts, behind Walt Disney’s direct-to-video The Pirate Fairy, the fifth computer-animated film in the DisneyToon Studios’ “Tinker Bell” film series.

Not only that, but Nielsen data shows that even in its third week of release, Frozen sold twice as many copies as Anchorman 2, which just came out on disc after earning $127.35 million in U.S. theaters — nearly 50% more than the original.

A third new release snagged the No. 4 spot on both charts: 47 Ronin, from Universal Studios, a samurai adventure with Keanu Reeves that earned $38.4 million in U.S. theaters.

Rounding out the top five, again on both charts, was Paramount’s The Wolf of Wall Street, which slipped to No. 5 after bowing at No. 2 the prior week.
Of the newcomers, Anchorman 2 fared best on Blu-ray Disc, with the high-definition format accounting for 62% of total unit sales, a higher percentage than either The Pirate Fairy (47%) or 47 Ronin (55%).

It should be noted that Anchorman 2 was also available in a two-pack, with the original, exclusive to Walmart. The bundle sold enough copies to debut at No. 6 on the Blu-ray Disc chart; adding in those sales to the regular standalone version means Anchorman 2 actually sold more Blu-ray copies than The Pirate Fairy, which was No. 2 on the Blu-ray chart.

On Home Media Magazine’s rental chart for the week, Anchorman 2 debuted at No. 1. The film’s arrival pushed the previous week’s top rental, The Wolf of Wall Street, to No. 2, which in turn sent Warner’s Gravity down a notch as well, to No. 3.

Fox’s 12 Years a Slave, which came out on disc a month earlier but wasn’t available at Netflix or Redbox for 28 days, finally hit those key rental outlets and soared up to No. 4 on the rental chart, with Frozen rounding out the top five after finishing at No. 4 the prior week.

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