'Interstellar' Launches to Top of Home Video Charts

8 Apr, 2015 By: John Latchem

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Paramount Home Media Distribution's Interstellar dominated the home entertainment charts the week ended April 5, outperforming a strong slate of returning titles.

The sci-fi epic directed by Christopher Nolan, which earned $188 million in U.S. theaters, topped the Nielsen VideoScan First Alert sales chart, which tracks combined DVD and Blu-ray Disc unit sales, as well as the dedicated Blu-ray Disc sales chart and Home Media Magazine's rental chart for the week. In addition to its success on disc, Interstellar also topped several digital delivery charts.

Coming in at No. 2 on both sales charts was the previous week's top seller, Warner's The Hobbit: The Battle of the Five Armies, which sold 57% as many units as Interstellar, but only 39% as many Blu-ray copies. That's because Blu-ray accounted for an impressive 70% of total Interstellar unit sales, not surprising given the film caters to the type of consumer who enjoys impressive visuals and overwhelming sound.

Moving up to No. 3 on both sales charts was Disney's Big Hero 6, followed on First Alert by Disney's Into the Woods at No. 4 and DreamWorks Animation's Fox-distributed Penguins of Madagascar at No. 5. On the Blu-ray Chart, Penguins was No. 4 and Woods was No. 5.

The only other new release in the Top 10 on either First Alert or the Blu-ray chart was Anchor Bay's The Imitation Game, a historical drama starring Benedict Cumberbatch about mathematician Alan Turing's efforts cracking Nazi codes during World War II, which debuted at No. 6 on both charts. The film grossed $90.8 million at the domestic box office and won an Oscar for best original screenplay.

Fox's Wild, a character drama starring Reese Witherspoon, debuted at No. 11 on First Alert and No. 13 on the Blu-ray chart.

The theatrical success of Universal's Furious 7 helped push earlier "Fast & Furious" franchise titles back into the Top 20, with Fast Five at No. 17 and Fast & Furious 6 at No. 20. The fourth film, Fast & Furious, moved up to No. 21, while the original film, The Fast and the Furious, moved up to No. 24, followed by 2 Fast 2 Furious at No. 25 and The Fast and the Furious: Tokyo Drift at No. 27.

On the rental chart for the week, Interstellar was followed by No. 2 The Imitation Game, with Lionsgate's Wild Card debuting at No. 3. Into the Woods moved up 10 spots to No. 4, while the previous week's top rental, Universal's Dumb and Dumber To, dropped to No. 5.

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