Blu-ray Sales, July 16-22: Batman Rises to the Top

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Blu-ray Sales, July 16-22: Batman Rises to the Top

Posted July 26, 2012 03:03 PM by Josh Katz

Last week, Warner Bros. and Christopher Nolan's Batman franchise dominated both theatrical and home media markets; The Dark Knight Rises grossed over $165 million at the box office, while its predecessors - Batman Begins and The Dark Knight - rose to the top of the Blu-ray sales rankings. Batman Begins came in at number one with a robust HD market share of 81%, but The Dark Knight did not lag far behind. The Academy Award-winning sequel sold 92% as many Blu-rays as Batman Begins and had an even stronger Blu-ray market share figure of 84%.

Behind the Batman entries at number two was Twentieth Century Fox Home Entertainment's The Three Stooges. The Farrelly Brothers' long-in-development re-imagining of the classic slapstick icons - at one point, they were in talks with Jim Carrey, Sean Penn, and Benicio Del Toro to play the Stooges - garnered the studio a modest success when it premiered last April, earning $44 million on top of its $30 million production budget. On the Blu-ray chart, it sold 62% as many copies as Batman Begins and enjoyed a Blu-ray market share of 34%. While only time will tell if The Three Stooges will endure on home media, its kid-friendly counter-programming certainly helped it compete against the darker Batman features this past week.

However, the overall package media rankings shifted the placement of these three somewhat. On that list, The Three Stooges had a commanding lead at number one; Batman Begins sold 68% as many total units as the Farrellys' comedy, while The Dark Knight could only manage 60% as many units. These figures were a far cry from the Blu-ray-only list, and they also made room for American Reunion, which remained in the top five in its second week of sales, as well as the sci-fi-actioner Lockout, which made its home media debut on the 17th.

Top Ten Blu-ray Sellers for Week Ending 07/22/12:
  1. Batman Begins
  2. The Dark Knight
  3. The Three Stooges
  4. Lockout
  5. Get The Gringo
  6. American Reunion
  7. Mission: Impossible - Ghost Protocol
  8. Wrath of the Titans
  9. Sherlock Holmes: A Game of Shadows
  10. Ice Age: Dawn of the Dinosaurs
Top Five Home Media Sellers for Week Ending 07/22/12 (% of Blu-ray's Market Share Noted):
  1. The Three Stooges (34%)
  2. Batman Begins (81%)
  3. The Dark Knight (84%)
  4. American Reunion (46%)
  5. Lockout (53%)
Top Five Blu-ray 3D Sellers for Week Ending 07/22/12 (Per % of Total Unit Sales):
  1. John Carter 3D (17%)
  2. Clash of the Titans 3D (16%)
  3. Journey 2: The Mysterious Island 3D (13%)
  4. Ghost Rider: Spirit of Vengeance 3D (13%)
  5. Wrath of the Titans 3D (10%)