‘Top Gun: Maverick,’ ‘Spider-Man: No Way Home’ Rule U.K. Home Entertainment Formats, Streaming Subscriptions Grow
Tom Cruise’s “Top Gun: Maverick” was the biggest selling home entertainment title in the U.K. in 2022, according to figures released by the British Association for Screen Entertainment (BASE) and the Official Charts Company (OCC).
The sequel to 1986 hit “Top Gun” achieved over 1.2 million sales across DVD, Blu-ray, and digital EST (electronic sell-through). The original “Top Gun” was the most rented title with nearly half a million digital transactions.
More from Variety
Box Office 2022: What Worked, What Flopped and What to Make of a Rollercoaster Year at the Movies
'Top Gun: Maverick' Becomes Paramount+'s Most-Watched Movie in Premiere Weekend
Best Film Shots of 2022: Nine Cinematographers Pick Their Favorites
Swinging into second place on the sales charts was “Spider-Man: No Way Home” with over 900,000 sales across DVD, Blu-ray, and EST, plus a rental performance of over 450,000 on VOD.
U.K. consumers had nearly 50 million streaming subscriptions in 2022, with 6.4% growth year-on-year, per statistics from Futuresource Consulting, with Disney+ and Netflix introducing ad-tiered options, new channels like Paramount+ launching and FAST channels like Pluto continuing to grow. “Encanto” was the bestselling children’s title alongside its release on Disney+.
“Game of Thrones: House of the Dragon” topped the TV charts. Doctor Who franchise titles claimed spots in the top 10, including “Doctor Who 13: Flux” and “Doctor Who: The Abominable Snowmen.”
The DVD format is still going strong with “Downton Abbey: A New Era” shifting 190,000 units. In 2022, over 40% of physical sales were Blu-ray and 4K UHD, where “Dune” proved the most popular title for the high-quality in-home format.
Liz Bales, chief executive, BASE, said: “U.K. Home Entertainment has evolved at an electrifying speed to meet the needs of savvy audiences. With so much choice available these days, film and TV lovers show us that what they are watching drives the way that they watch it. That said, a big box office number is still the greatest predictor of home entertainment success, so it was fantastic to see ‘Top Gun: Maverick’ convert its outstanding cinema performance into the biggest sales of the year, and the original ‘Top Gun’ movie had a huge result on rental, proving once again that audiences love nostalgia.”
“We witnessed consumers and the industry adapt together during the pandemic. That resulted in huge growth for the streaming platforms, and across digital download and keep (EST) and digital rental (VOD), as audiences realised how simple and easy digital home entertainment is. The industry also introduced new release models that see some new titles premier in-home or simultaneously in cinemas, or with shorter theatrical windows. We believe that audiences and the screen industry will carry on adapting together in the future, as forecasts suggest that U.K. home entertainment will continue to deliver the growth witnessed over the last decade in the years to come,” Bale added.
Best of Variety
Sign up for Variety’s Newsletter. For the latest news, follow us on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram.
