Pinocchio Tops Sales Charts

18 Mar, 2009 By: Thomas K. Arnold

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A special 70th anniversary edition of animated classic Pinocchio topped the national home video sales charts the week ended March 15, buoyed in part by surprisingly strong Blu-ray Disc sales.

Of the Walt Disney Studios Home Entertainment release’s total sales, 15% were in the high-definition format, a high number for a family title — and an indication that Blu-ray Disc may be moving beyond the early adopter stage, which is dominated by young adult males.

Pinocchio debuted at No. 1 on both the Nielsen VideoScan First Alert sales chart, which tracks DVD and Blu-ray Disc sales combined, as well as Nielsen’s Blu-ray Disc sales chart.

Debuting at No. 2 on both charts was Universal Studios Home Entertainment’s Role Models, a comedy that earned $67.3 million in theaters. Role Models turned in a surprisingly strong sales debut, with studio sources reporting that 25% of the initial shipment was snatched up by consumers in the first day. After six days, a whopping 70% of inventory was gone, translating into first-week sales of more than 2 million units.

The third spot on both sales charts went to Lionsgate’s Transporter 3, which earned $31.7 million at the box office. 

Role Models and Transporter 3 also debuted at No. 1 and No. 2, respectively, on Home Media Magazine’s rental chart for the week, bumping the previous week’s top rental, 20th Century Fox’s Australia, to No. 3.

Disney’s Beverly Hills Chihuahua, the top-selling home video release the previous week, slipped to No. 4 on the First Alert sales chart, just ahead of Universal Studios’ Milk, which debuted at No. 5. Milk was also the week’s No. 4 rental its first week in stores.

 

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