Blu-ray Sales: February 26-March 4: Puss in Boots De-Claws Black Panther

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Blu-ray Sales: February 26-March 4: Puss in Boots De-Claws Black Panther

Posted March 10, 2023 04:00 AM by Sean Greenwood

For the week that ended on March 4th, Universal Pictures Home Entertainment's Puss in Boots: The Last Wish debuted on top of both the Blu-ray-only and overall packaged media charts. The sequel to 2011's Puss in Boots concerns the feline hero's quest for to find magic star which can restore the eight of his nine lives he has used up. Over a decade on from the first film, and featuring a notably different computer-generated animation style to the other films in the Shrek franchise, Puss in Boots: The Last Wish opened in December 2022 to positive reviews. Despite finishing second on its opening weekend, behind the gargantuan Avatar: The Way of Water, Puss in Boots: The Last Wish has legged it to over $177 million domestically and over $454 million globally. The film has also been nominated for the Oscar for Best Animated Feature Film at the upcoming Academy Awards. This week, Puss in Boots: The Last Wish had an HD share of 56% and 10% of units sold from the 4K UHD format.

Debuting in second place on both charts is Paramount Home Media Distribution's Devotion. The biopic tells the story of Jesse Brown, the first Black aviator in U.S. Navy and his friendship with white fellow officer Tom Hudner. The film received positive reviews, but failed to make a dent at the box office, where it was released by Sony's Columbia Pictures in November 2022. Since that time, star Johnathan Majors has had starring roles in both Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania and Creed III, with many singling out his performances for praise, so this may explain the success of Devotion on home media. This week, Devotion sold 39% as many Blu-ray units as Puss in Boots: The Last Wish, with an HD share of 55% and 11% of units sold from the 4K UHD format.

Dropping to third place on both charts in its fourth week is Walt Disney Home Entertainment's Black Panther: Wakanda Forever. After the historic success of Black Panther in 2018, including seven Oscar nominations and three wins, as well as making over $1.3 billion worldwide, a sequel seemed obvious. However, unbeknownst to the public and to the film's cast and crew, star Chadwick Boseman had been privately battling cancer, and would pass away suddenly in August 2020. While Boseman's death could have meant that the Black Panther character would be recast, Marvel ultimately made the decision not to do so and instead, writer and director Coogler re-tooled the script to focus on other characters. The 30th film in the Marvel Cinematic Universe, Black Panther: Wakanda Forever is considered the final film of Phase Four of the series, and released in November 2022 to critical acclaim and box office success, earning over $181 million on its opening weekend. So far, the film has grossed over $858 million worldwide and was recently nominated for five Academy Awards, including Best Supporting Actress for Angela Bassett, the first Oscar-nominated performance in a Marvel film. This week, Black Panther: Wakanda Forever sold 28% as many Blu-ray units as Puss in Boots: The Last Wish, with an HD share of 44% and 15% of units sold from the 4K UHD format.

Elsewhere on the charts, Warner Bros. Home Entertainment's Training Day, which received a 4K UHD release this week, landed at No. 4 on the Blu-ray-only chart, easily topping the UHD Market Share chart for the week, with over 99% of units sold from the 4K UHD format. Coming in right behind it at No. 5 was MPI Media Group's The Texas Chain Saw Massacre, which received its own 4K UHD release as it hurtles toward its 50th anniversary next year. Sony Pictures Home Entertainment's Whitney Houston: I Wanna Dance with Somebody debuted at No. 7 on the Blu-ray-only chart, while outside the top ten, Warner and MGM's 4K UHD box set Rocky: The Knockout Collection (1976-1985) and Rocky, which also had a standalone release as a Best Buy Exclusive 4K UHD SteelBook, came in at Nos. 12 and 14, respectively.

Top Ten Blu-ray Sellers for Week Ending 3/4/23:
  1. Puss in Boots: The Last Wish
  2. Devotion
  3. Black Panther: Wakanda Forever
  4. Training Day
  5. The Texas Chain Saw Massacre (1974)
  6. Black Adam
  7. Whitney Houston: I Wanna Dance with Somebody
  8. Top Gun: Maverick
  9. John Wick: Chapters 1-3
  10. Violent Night
Top Five Home Media Sellers for Week Ending 3/4/23 (% of Blu-ray's Market Share Noted):
  1. Puss in Boots: The Last Wish (56%)
  2. Devotion (55%)
  3. Black Panther: Wakanda Forever (44%)
  4. Whitney Houston: I Wanna Dance with Somebody (38%)
  5. Top Gun: Maverick (46%)
Top Blu-ray 3D Sellers for Week Ending 3/4/23 (Per % of Total Unit Sales):
  1. Top Gun 3D (0.25%)
  2. Aquaman 3D (0.102%)
  3. Pokémon: Detective Pikachu 3D (0.099%)
Top Five UHD Blu-ray Sellers for Week Ending 3/4/23 (Per % of Total Unit Sales):
  1. Training Day 4K (99.64%)
  2. Rocky 4K (99.11%) (Best Buy Exclusive)
  3. Scream 4K (1996) (97%)
  4. Kubo and the Two Strings 4K (95%)
  5. The Texas Chain Saw Massacre 4K (1974) (93%)