Video Asylum

Posted by Jack G (A) on February 07, 2008 at 05:17:16

In Reply to: RE: $ is a bigger point posted by Joe Murphy Jr on February 06, 2008 at 17:36:13

Nothing is selling well on HD. Sure, the Pirates type movies sell better than older titles on HD, but even so, sales are pitiful. Both formats combined only sold 8.9M discs in the year 2007. The #1 title (300) sold 472,400, while the #10 DVD (Bourne Ultimatum) sold 7.35M the last 3 weeks of the year. Are the studios really going to rely on Blockbusters for HD?
The Transformers HD DVD sold 239,100 (#3 title) but the DVD sold 13.74M. Do the studios really care? Sure, Casablanca HD DVD didn't sell well, but how many DVDs of it sold in 2007? That is the point. Free money (almost).

The real question is "If they are going to focus on blockbusters, why bother?". There's not alot of point to it.

Top ten DVD titles for 2007:
1. Transformers (Paramount/DreamWorks): 13.74 million units
2. Happy Feet (Warner): 13.48
3. Pirates of the Caribbean: At World's End (Disney): 13.20
4. 300 (Warner): 12.91
5. Ratatouille (Disney): 12.06
6. Shrek the Third (Paramount/DreamWorks): 11.84
7. Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix (Warner): 10.14
8. The Departed (Warner): 8.94
9. Night at the Museum (Fox): 8.66
10. The Bourne Ultimatum (Universal): 7.36

Top ten HD titles for 2007:
1. 300 (Blu-ray/Warner): 472,400
2. Planet Earth: The Complete Series (both formats/BBC Video): 294,300
3. Transformers (HD DVD/Paramount/DreamWorks): 239,100
4. Pirates of the Caribbean: At World's End (Blu-ray/Disney): 219,300
5. Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix (both/Warner): 179,500
6. The Departed (both/Warner): 171,800
7. Casino Royale (Blu-ray/Sony): 169,800
8. Bourne Ultimatum (HD DVD/Universal): 162,300
9. Spider-Man 3 (Blu-ray/Sony): 145,300
10. Ratatouille (Blu-ray/Disney): 117,500

Rather pitiful numbers don't you think? Unlike the day/date releases, I'm willing to bet that most of the old titles released in HD out sold their DVD counterparts for the year.

Jack