'Interstellar' Maintains Orbit Atop Home Video Charts

15 Apr, 2015 By: Thomas K. Arnold

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After weeks of three or four high-profile new releases, the disc business is going through its usual pre-summer slowdown.

With no new big theatrical releases arriving in stores, the two top spots on the national home video sales charts for the week ended April 12 were the same as in the prior week: Paramount’s sci-fi epic Interstellar, which earned $188 million at the U.S. box office, at No. 1, and Warner’s The Hobbit: The Battle of the Five Armies, the third installment in the fantasy trilogy, at No. 2.

Walt Disney again took the No. 3 and No. 4 spots, with returning titles Into the Woods and Big Hero 6 on the Nielsen Videoscan First Alert chart, which tracks combined DVD and Blu-ray Disc unit sales. Both titles also finished the week in the same spots on Nielsen’s dedicated Blu-ray Disc chart, albeit in the reverse order.

The lack of new releases might have given a boost to 20th Century Fox’s character drama Wild, with Reese Witherspoon: The film shot up to No. 5 on First Alert, after debuting at No. 11 the week before.

Fan excitement sent several older movies and one TV show back up the sales charts. The record-breaking opening of Furious 7, which grossed more than $147 million over the Easter/Passover holiday weekend, sent all six previous installments in the fast-cars franchise back into the First Alert top 20, led by Fast Five at No. 9.

And HBO fed the anticipation for the April 12 premiere of season five of hot HBO fantasy series "Game of Thrones,” which drew about 8 million viewers according to Nielsen, by re-releasing the first season as a low-priced slimcase, prompting the title to move up to No. 8 on First Alert and No. 5 on the Blu-ray Disc chart.

Nielsen data shows the Blu-ray Disc edition of Interstellar accounted for 59% of total unit sales, down from 70% in week one.

On Home Media Magazine’s rental chart for the week, Interstellar remained at No. 1 for the second consecutive week, while 20th Century Fox’s Night at the Museum: Secret of the Tomb shot up to No. 2 now that its 28-day holdback from Redbox is over.

Anchor Bay’s The Imitation Game slipped to No. 3 after debuting at No. 2 the prior week. Rounding out the top five were two Lionsgate titles Wild Card at No. 4 and A Most Violent Year, a crime drama set in 1981 New York, debuting at No. 5.

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