Blu-ray Sales, August 25-31: Spider-Man 2 Faces Walking Dead and Blended

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Blu-ray Sales, August 25-31: Spider-Man 2 Faces Walking Dead and Blended

Posted September 4, 2014 06:57 AM by Josh Katz

For the week that ended on August 31st, Sony Home Entertainment's The Amazing Spider-Man 2 again took the top spot on the Blu-ray-only rankings. This sequel to the hit 2011 comic-book actioner struggled somewhat to connect with critics and fans. While its worldwide gross was over $708 million, it made just under $203 million domestically, with some analysts speculating that the domestic total did not cover the film's production budget. Additionally, critics had less than favorable notices for the film; on Metacritic, it currently has a 53% rating. Last week, The Amazing Spider-Man 2 had a Blu-ray market share of 56%.

However, The Amazing Spider-Man 2 did not easily rise to number one; it faced stiff competition from a number of new releases. Next up on the Blu-ray-only list was Starz and Anchor Bay's release of The Walking Dead: The Complete Fourth Season. Even with the intense behind-the-scene controversies that have dogged the show since its second season - due to creative differences with AMC, original showrunner Frank Darabont left the series, a move that caused an exodus of certain key cast members and kicked off a revolving door of showrunners that has included, so far, Glen Mazzara and Scott Gimple - this horror drama remains one of the most watched programs on both basic cable and on AMC. The Walking Dead: The Complete Fourth Season sold 66% as many Blu-rays as The Amazing Spider-Man 2 and had an HD market share of 38%, and on the overall package-media chart, the series set came in third place and sold 97% as many units as top overall package-media seller.

Which was, on that media chart, Warner Bros' Blended. On the Blu-ray-only ranking, this Adam Sandler-and-Drew Barrymore-starring farce came in third place, selling 61% as many Blu-rays as The Amazing Spider-Man 2 (and garnering an HD market share of 34%). However, Blended bested both the Marvel superhero's adventure and the zombie TV show in terms of total units sold. There, The Amazing Spider-Man 2 came in second place and moved almost 100% as many copies as Blended. It's a strong initial performance from a film that didn't really connect with critics and audiences last May; the picture struggled to make little over $46 million domestically (a number just over its projected $40 million production budget), and critics had mostly unkind things to say about the film (its Metacritic score is 31%).

Top Ten Blu-ray Sellers for Week Ending 08/31/14:
  1. The Amazing Spider-Man 2
  2. The Walking Dead: The Complete Fourth Season
  3. Blended
  4. Divergent
  5. Sons of Anarchy: Season Six
  6. God's Not Dead
  7. The Amazing Spider-Man / The Amazing Spider-Man 2 (Wal-Mart Exclusive)
  8. Noah
  9. Muppets Most Wanted
  10. The Other Woman
Top Five Home Media Sellers for Week Ending 08/31/14 (% of Blu-ray's Market Share Noted):
  1. Blended (34%)
  2. The Amazing Spider-Man 2 (56%)
  3. The Walking Dead: The Complete Fourth Season (38%)
  4. Sons of Anarchy: Season Six (21%)
  5. Divergent (40%)
Top Five Blu-ray 3D Sellers for Week Ending 08/31/14 (Per % of Total Unit Sales):
  1. The Amazing Spider-Man 2 3D (13%)
  2. The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug 3D (6%)
  3. Rio 2 3D (3%)
  4. The LEGO Movie 3D (2%)
  5. Cloudy With a Chance of Meatballs 3D (0%)