For the week that ended on March 23rd, Warner Bros. Home Entertainment's
Aquaman and the Lost Kingdom remained on top of both the Blu-ray-only and overall packaged media charts in its second week. A sequel to
Aquaman (2018) was never in any doubt once the DC Extended Universe (DCEU) film grossed over $1 billion, but the production would be beset by several issues, including the coronavirus pandemic, which pushed principal photography into 2021, legal issues for
Aquaman's female lead, Amber Heard, the Warner Bros. Discovery merger in 2022 and the announcement in 2023 of the DCEU continuity being largely abandoned in favor of a new DCU (DC Universe) of films. Although
Aquaman and the Lost Kingdom was initially completed on time and under budget, two sets of re-shoots took place in 2023 and the budget ballooned to a reported $215 million, all of which gave the film an uphill battle, both at the box office and with audiences. When the film finally opened in late December 2023, it did top the box office, but with only some $27 million en route to a domestic total of over $124 million. Critical reviews were largely negative, but internationally, the film did a bit better, with over $309 million, and it did become the highest-grossing DCEU film since
Aquaman five years earlier. However, with a worldwide total of over $434 million, it fell well short of its predecessor's $1.15 billion. This week,
Aquaman and the Lost Kingdom had an HD share of 56%, with 13% of units sold from the 4K UHD format.
Taking second place on the Blu-ray-only chart in its second week is Walt Disney Home Entertainment and 20th Century Studios'
Aliens, which was one of three James Cameron films released on 4K UHD / Blu-ray combo pack this month. While
Aliens had been released on Blu-ray by 20th Century Fox in 2014, two other Cameron films,
The Abyss and
True Lies, were making their worldwide debuts on the Blu-ray format that week, with
True Lies taking third place on the Blu-ray-only chart and
The Abyss taking fifth place. This week,
Aliens sold 52% as many Blu-ray units as
Aquaman and the Lost Kingdom, with a perfect HD share of 100% and 99.27% of units sold from the 4K UHD format.
True Lies and
The Abyss sold 44% and 36% as many Blu-ray units as
Aquaman and the Lost Kingdom also with perfect HD shares of 100% and 100% of units sold from the 4K UHD format.
And dropping to fourth place in its second week is Walt Disney Home Entertainment's
Wish (2023). The 62nd feature film from Walt Disney Animation Studios used a blend of traditional and computer-generated animation to tell the story of a young girl who wishes on a star and faces down the evil ruler of her kingdom, but it failed to resonate with audiences. When it opened over Thanksgiving 2023,
Wish saw mixed reviews and landed in third place, behind
The Hunger Games: The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes and
Napoleon (2023), with just $31 million over the five-day period. While the film made some money internationally (over $190 million), on a reported budget between $175-200 million,
Wish was another financial disappointment. Perhaps because of the film's lack of success, Disney released only a Blu-ray to all retailers and chose to issue the film on 4K UHD only as a
Walmart Exclusive SteelBook. This week,
Wish sold 42% as many Blu-ray units as
Aquaman and the Lost Kingdom, with an HD share of 56% and 13% of units sold from the 4K UHD format.
Elsewhere on the charts, Shout Factory's
The Ring Collection (2002-2017), which was released on 4K UHD / Blu-ray combo pack this week, came in at No. 17 on the Blu-ray-only chart and No. 6 on the UHD Sellers chart, while Shout's
K-19: The Widowmaker 4K, which was also released on 4K UHD this week, came in at No. 15 on the UHD Sellers chart.
Top Ten Blu-ray Sellers for Week Ending 3/23/24:
- Aquaman and the Lost Kingdom
- Aliens
- True Lies
- Wish (2023)
- The Abyss
- Wonka
- Oppenheimer (2023)
- Migration (2023)
- The Hunger Games: The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes
- Dune (2021)
Top Ten UHD Blu-ray Sellers for Week Ending 3/23/24:
- Aliens 4K
- True Lies 4K
- The Abyss 4K
- Aquaman and the Lost Kingdom 4K
- Oppenheimer 4K (2023)
- The Ring Collection 4K (2002-2017)
- Dune 4K (2021)
- Wonka 4K
- The Hunger Games: The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes 4K
- Wish 4K (2023) (Walmart Exclusive SteelBook)
Top Home Media Sellers for Week Ending 3/23/24 (% of Blu-ray's Market Share Noted):
- Aquaman and the Lost Kingdom (56%)
- Wish (2023) (50%)
- Wonka (49%)
- Migration (2023) (42%)
- Oppenheimer (2023) (67%)
- Aliens (100%)
Top Blu-ray 3D Sellers for Week Ending 3/23/24 (Per % of Total Unit Sales):
- Dune 3D (2021) (1.51%)
- Titanic 3D (1997) (0.78%)
Top Five UHD Blu-ray Sellers for Week Ending 3/23/24 (Per % of Total Unit Sales):
Note: There appears to be a disparity in the charts, because both
The Abyss 4K and
True Lies 4K are said to have sold 100% of their units as 4K UHD, yet the top title on the UHD Market Share chart is currently
Aliens 4K, with 99.27%, while
The Abyss 4K and
True Lies 4K are not included in the top twenty titles in this chart. If this data changes, the article will be updated.
- Aliens 4K (99.27%)
- Dune 4K (2021) (36%)
- Oppenheimer 4K (2023) (35%)
- The Super Mario Bros. Movie 4K (16%)
- The Hunger Games: The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes 4K (14%)