‘X-Men’ Goes to the Head of the ‘Class’; ‘Paul’ Tops Rentals

14 Sep, 2011 By: Thomas K. Arnold

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With the critical fourth quarter just weeks away, studios are starting to roll out some of the big summer theatricals on DVD and Blu-ray Disc.

First out of the gate: 20th Century Fox Home Entertainment’s X-Men: First Class, which opened in theaters June 3 and grossed $146.4 million domestically.

The prequel easily bowed at No. 1 on both the Nielsen VideoScan First Alert sales chart and Nielsen’s dedicated Blu-ray Disc sales chart, outselling its nearest competitor, the Universal Studios actioner Hanna ($40.2 million), by a margin of more than 4 to 1 (Blu-ray Disc, 5 to 1).

Two TV sets, season seven of “The Office” (from Universal) and season three of “Fringe” (Warner), also fared well their first week in stores, debuting on the overall disc sales chart at No. 3 and No. 5, respectively.

Fox’s Rio slipped to No. 4 from No. 3 the previous week, while Universal Studios’ Scarface, making its Blu-ray Disc debut, entered the overall sales chart at No. 6 and the dedicated Blu-ray Disc chart at No. 2.

Lionsgate’s Madea’s Big Happy Family, the top seller the previous week, slipped to No. 8 on the First Alert sales chart for the week ended Sept. 11.

On the rental chart, it was as different story, entirely. With Fox, Universal and Warner titles held back from Netflix and Redbox for 28 days, none of the new releases from those studios charted in the top 20 on Home Media Magazine’s weekly rental chart.

Universal’s Paul came off its 28-day holdback to move up to No. 1 on the rental chart, bumping the previous week’s top rental, Rio, to No. 2. The Lionsgate comedy Everything Must Go debuted at No. 3.
 

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