‘Maleficent’ Captures Top Spot on Home Video Sales Charts, Unseats ‘X-Men’
Three new releases and an extended edition of a recent hit captured the top four spots on the national home video sales charts for the week ending Nov. 9, ending the three-week reign of 20th Century Fox’s “X-Men: Days of Future Past” as the country’s top-selling disc.
“X-Men” finished the week at No. 5, ceding the No. 1 spot on both Nielsen VideoScan sales charts to Walt Disney Studios’ newly released “Maleficent,” the live-action powerhouse ($241.3 million box office) that stars Angelina Jolie as the notorious villain from Disney’s 1959 animated classic, “Sleeping Beauty.”
Paramount’s live-action retelling of the “Hercules” legend, with Dwayne Johnson in the title role, debuted at No. 2 on both the First Alert chart, which tracks combined Blu-ray Disc and DVD sales, and the Blu-ray Disc-only chart.
A third new release, Walt Disney’s animated sequel “Planes: Fire & Rescue,” bowed at No. 3 on both charts, while an extended edition of “The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug,” from Warner, captured the No. 4 spot.
This is the first time in recent memory that the top five on both sales charts are identical.
Nielsen data shows that of the four top-selling new releases, “The Hobbit” fared best on Blu-ray Disc, with the high-definition disc version accounting for 75% of total unit sales. But the three other films also generated the majority of their sales from Blu-ray – 54% for “Maleficent” and 53% each for “Hercules” and “Planes” – while in its fourth week of release “X-Men” generated 56% of its total unit sales from Blu-ray Disc.
Again, this is the first time that all five top sellers sold more copies on Blu-ray Disc than they did on standard DVD.
On Home Media Magazine’s rental chart for the week, Warner’s “Edge of Tomorrow” vaulted to the top of the charts now that its 28-day holdback from Netflix and Redbox is over. Paramount’s “Hercules” – not subject to any such delay – debuted at No. 2, while “A Million Ways to Die in the West,” from Universal Studios (which also holds back new releases from the two key rental channels for a month) finished the week at No. 3.
Rounding out the top five were the previous week’s top rental, Universal Studios’ “Neighbors,” at No. 4 and Walt Disney Studios’ “Maleficent” bowing at No. 5.
Thomas K. Arnold is editorial director of Home Media Magazine, http://www.homemediamagazine.com.
Top 20 Nielsen VideoScan First Alert chart for the week of 11/9/2014:
1. Maleficent (new)
2. Hercules (new)
3. Planes: Fire & Rescue (new)
4. Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug
5. X-Men: Days of Future Past
6. Mr. Peabody & Sherman
7. Step Up All In (new)
8. Frozen
9. Transformers: Age of Extinction
10. America
11. A Most Wanted Man (new)
12. Sleeping Beauty
13. Sex Tape
14. Earth to Echo
15. The Christmas Candle (new)
16. Godzilla
17. The Purge: Anarchy
18. Despicable Me 2
19. The Fault in Our Stars
20. Captain America: The Winter Soldier
Top 10 Home Media Magazine rental chart for the week of 11/9/2014:
1. Edge of Tomorrow
2. Hercules (new)
3. A Million Ways to Die In the West
4. Neighbors
5. Maleficent (new)
6. Sex Tape
7. A Most Wanted Man (new)
8. Deliver Us From Evil
9. Step Up All In (new)
10. Blended
Related stories
Japan Box Office Slumps to Lowest Weekend of the Year
Tom Cruise Nabs Top Spot on Home Video Sales Charts With 'Edge of Tomorrow'
Tom Cruise's 'Edge of Tomorrow' Gets Repositioned as 'Live Die Repeat' on Home Video
Get more from Variety and Variety411: Follow us on Twitter, Facebook, Newsletter
