AfterDawn: News

Update: Latest "Pirates" film helps Blu-ray to 3:1 disc sales victory for week

Thanks to the previously reported record breaking sales of 'Pirates of the Caribbean: At World's End,' Blu-ray sales topped HD DVD by a hefty 3:1 margin for the week ended December 9th.

According to Nielson, but not confirmed by Disney, the latest "Pirates" film sold 160,000 units in its first week setting a new Blu-ray record. The movie even sold 3 times as many units as Sony's Blu-ray title "Superbad" did and almost 8 times as many as the top selling HD DVD title, the ever popular "Planet Earth" box set, for the week.



The strong showing helped Blu-ray take a 76% share of disc sales for the week, a decisive number that has not been seen in some time. The week ending December 16th should be more interesting however. "Bourne Ultimatum" sales are said to be very high for HD DVD and the long awaited dual-format release of all the Harry Potter films should heat up the competition some.

More updates when the final numbers come in.

Source:
HD Digest

Written by: Andre Yoskowitz @ 14 Dec 2007 18:34

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• 29 comments

• nonoitall

  I'm an HD-DVD fanboy and Blu-ray smells like POO!
  
  Okay, now that should summarize about 90% of the comments that people would've written in response to this article, so maybe those comments don't need to be posted now, and we can get on to the somewhat meaningful 10%. ;-)
  
  Anyway, that aside, I'll be sure to recall this article to mind when they go claiming that 'piracy' hurts the movie industry. :-P

  15.12.2007 03:19 #1

• rainofire

  Quote:Anyway, that aside, I'll be sure to recall this article to mind when they go claiming that 'piracy' hurts the movie industry. :-P Lol, Seems like 'piracy' can help gain money. XD

  15.12.2007 03:24 #2

• duckNrun

  @ nonoitall: If your comment could only work that way regarding the quick slide this topic usually ends up taking!
  
  Personally I am more interested in sales comparisons that are actually head-to-head so to speak. Pirates was a huge hit in theaters and everyone knew it would be huge on DVD. This would have been one of the few movies out this year that could really have given one side or the other the ability to brag about their superior sales. The only real way to say which is selling more is to compare apples to apples and that means movies that are dual format. How many of the SD DVD sales were to people that owned HD-DVD and WOULD have bought it in that format had it been offered? If I'm the only game in town it doesn't matter how many of an item I sell because OF COURSE I am going to outsell the competitor for that item AND it's going to artificially boost my stats for overall sales comparisions.
  
  Claims, stats or numbers based upon this type of either or model are all statistically flawed and can be easily discounted as FUD

  15.12.2007 03:35 #3

• nobrainer

  let sell 6 million+ blu-ray players sold and less than 1 million hd-dvd players sold and blu-ray's are only selling at a ratio of 3-1.
  
  who wants the MPAA leading lobbyist (sony) having control of the hardware as well as the software?
  

  Tor: anonymity online HIDE your IP from the spies, post and browse anonymously! http://www.torproject.org/
  
  
  THE RIAA SOUNDEXCHANGE ARE: SONY, UNIVERSAL , WARNER GROUP, EMI.
  
  THE MPAA ARE: SONY, UNIVERSAL, WARNER GROUP, DISNEY, PARAMOUNT, FOX.

  15.12.2007 06:10 #4

• error5

  Originally posted by duckNrun:
  Personally I am more interested in sales comparisons that are actually head-to-head so to speak... The only real way to say which is selling more is to compare apples to apples and that means movies that are dual format. @duckNrun:
  For the comparison that you want I would look at the numbers that Warner released for 300:
  
  http://bluray.highdefdigest.com/news/sho..._Top_400K_/1059
  
  Quote:
  Warner now says that the dual-format release has moved over 400,000 units through the end of September, with Blu-ray sales continuing their 2:1 advantage over HD DVD Another title that would be interesting to compare would be Planet Earth. I'll try to find the latest numbers and report back later. Also next week we'll see the initial numbers on the Harry Potter set on both formats.
  
  I personally get the HD DVD version of any Warner dual-format release.

  15.12.2007 07:20 #5

• NexGen76

  Originally posted by error5: I personally get the HD DVD version of any Warner dual-format release.Why do you prefer Warner HD over Blu version ?

  15.12.2007 07:47 #6

• hughjars

  The Blu-ray 'buy-one-get-one-free' strikes again.
  No surprise and not such a big deal.
  
  The underlying fact is that according to the BDA themselves 2007 sales are 4 million to Blu-ray to 2.7 million to HD DVD.
  
  Seeing as there are supposed to be so many Blu-ray players (that's all BD players inc PS3 v all HD DVD inc XBox 360 HD DVD add-on players for those who want to get their panties in a knot over stand-alones) out there that's not so great for them.
  
  It's supposed to be an advantage from 10:1 on up depending on which PS3 sales number is being touted.
  10:1 advantage in players producing a 2:1.35 advantage in disc sales isn't so good
  (especially when the already more expensive Blu-ray has to keep resorting to various expensive offers going through the shop tills to try and buy weeks).
  
  The Harry Potter release (simultaneously on both formats) figures due next Friday are going to be interesting.

  15.12.2007 07:52 #7

• error5

  Originally posted by NexGen76: Why do you prefer Warner HD over Blu version ?My girlfriend has an A2 (but no BD player) and I do quite a bit of watching at her place. ;)
  
  I'm going out on a limb and predict next week's numbers:
  
  BluRay - 48
  HD DVD - 52
  
  HD wins a week this year because of Bourne and because of the amazon BOGO.
  
  Lost Season 3 and High School Musical 2 make a good showing on BD but not enough to topple Bourne. It's difficult to tell which version of Harry Potter will sell more and may even go BD with the demographic but I think the numbers for the week ending 12/16 will still favor HD.

  15.12.2007 08:24 #8

• juankerr

  BD-46: HD-54
  
  Bourne does very strong. Harry Potter goes BD by a slim margin but not enough to affect the outcome.

  15.12.2007 08:58 #9

• dblbogey7

  error5: I think it'll be the other way around.
  
  52 Blu: 48 HD
  
  Bourne Ultimatum will sell a ton but the Harry Potter crowd goes BluRay just enough to shut out HD. I also think Lost and HSM 2 will sell better than expected.
  
  Hey if I win can I have your Led Zep:TSRTS BluRay? Just kidding!!!

  15.12.2007 09:19 #10

• 26r0cK

  Bourne should definately be a big hit, i've seen lots ppl grabbing the HD-DVD version off the shelves. Its unfortunate that they didnt have a Bourne collect on HD-DVD cuz so many ppl asked for those and instead ended up picking out the regular DVD collection just cuz they wanted it all at once. But I see now they have the previous Bourne movies on HD-DVD but not as a collection. Does anybody know if they'll make an HD-DVD box collection of Bourne? that'd be really sweet.

  15.12.2007 10:28 #11

• NexGen76

  Originally posted by dblbogey7: error5: I think it'll be the other way around.
  
  52 Blu: 48 HD
  
  Bourne Ultimatum will sell a ton but the Harry Potter crowd goes BluRay just enough to shut out HD. I also think Lost and HSM 2 will sell better than expected.
  
  Hey if I win can I have your Led Zep:TSRTS BluRay? Just kidding!!!It is setup for HD-DVD to win this week with a title like Bourne Ultimatum,one of very few titles(Transformers& The Matrix's Box set) i wished BD had.But week after next BD is more than likely going to be back strong with Rush Hour 3 & Pan's Labyrinth.But BD jan lineup look like its going to be the best since they launched.
  
  January 02, 2008
  
  * Resident Evil (Sony)
  * Resident Evil Trilogy (Sony)
  * Resident Evil: Extinction (Sony)
  
  January 08, 2008
  
  * 3:10 to Yuma (2007) (Lionsgate)
  * Con Air (Buena Vista)
  * Dragon Wars (Sony)
  * The Invasion (Warner)
  * Killing Machine / Shogun's Ninja (Double Feature) (BCI)
  * Man on Fire (Fox)
  * Night of the Werewolf / Vengeance of the Zombies (Deimos)
  * The Rock (Buena Vista)
  * Sister Street Fighter / Sister Street Fighter 2 (Double Feature) (BCI)
  * Sunshine (Fox)
  
  January 15, 2008
  
  * Breaker Morant (Image)
  * Girls Gone Wild: Baby Bash - Live And Uncensored (Mantra)
  * Good Luck Chuck (Lionsgate)
  * Mr. Woodcock (New Line)
  * Suburban Girl (Image)
  * Went To Coney Island On A Mission From God... Be Back By Five (Starz)
  
  January 22, 2008
  
  * The Game Plan (Walt Disney)
  * Initial D (Tai Seng)
  * Saw IV (Lionsgate)
  
  January 29, 2008
  
  * Daddy Day Camp (Sony)
  * Damages: The Complete First Season (Sony)
  * Dispatch: Zimbabwe - Live at Madison Square Garden (Warner Music Group)
  * King of California (First Look)
  * Monty Python's Life of Brian (Sony)

  15.12.2007 10:30 #12

• hughjars

  Thanks for the Blu-ray advert (as per) Nextgen.
  
  Personally I'm looking forward to a number of those supposedly 'exclusive' Blu-ray titles coming out on HD DVD in Europe next year shortly after they appear on Blu-ray.

  15.12.2007 12:15 #13

• sciascia

  Guess you were wrong about Transformers being the record high HDDVD sales mark.

  15.12.2007 12:37 #14

• hughjars

  Originally posted by sciascia: Guess you were wrong about Transformers being the record high HDDVD sales mark. - Only according to the Blu-ray fanclub.

  15.12.2007 13:18 #15

• DVDBack23

  Originally posted by sciascia: Guess you were wrong about Transformers being the record high HDDVD sales mark.Where in the articles does it say that Transformers is NOT the HD record holder?

  15.12.2007 13:53 #16

• sciascia

  Quote:did and almost 8 times as many as the top selling HD DVD title, the ever popular "Planet Earth" box set, for the week.

  15.12.2007 15:08 #17

• DVDBack23

  Yeah, i know it says that cause i wrote the article :)
  It outsold Planet Earth for the week, Transformers, although the numbers are not clear, is by far the fastest selling HD DVD title. Sorry if that was not clear :)

  15.12.2007 15:16 #18

• sciascia

  Ah my mistake, my apologies Hugh.

  15.12.2007 15:21 #19

• BIGnewb

  outsold it period.blu-ray keeps outselling even with hd-dvd's 10 free movies offer.

  15.12.2007 19:02 #20

• NexGen76

  Originally posted by DVDBack23: Yeah, i know it says that cause i wrote the article :)
  It outsold Planet Earth for the week, Transformers, although the numbers are not clear, is by far the fastest selling HD DVD title. Sorry if that was not clear :)No there seem to be a mistake here DVDBack23 he was referring to Hughjars thats said Transformers was the highest selling HD format released on last POTC3 tread but for some reason when you updated this tread all the past posts was gone.He wasn't questioning you DVDback23 your tread titles was right from the start.

  15.12.2007 19:10 #21

• duckNrun

  What I meant was more of an overall picture of dual format movies. Sales numbers for one or two movies released dual format is not really enough to get the big picture of which format is selling more overall.
  
  What I would like to see is at least ten blockbuster movies released in dual format as a minimum comparision for the quickest route to a 'population average' although lower sales movies would work as well but would really require a certain level of total sales as a group to really be able to be analyzed as a good comparison. Statistically, when referring to people, you need at the minimum 1000 random people from a population to make statistical analyzes of the population as a whole.
  
  Based on this, I would put forth that a minimum number of ACTUAL sales (no BOGO, no get x free with device etc) of dual format movies should be at least 10x the total number of combined hardware sales for BOTH formats. From those numbers you could derive these 'facts' about both formats such as:
  
  1: overall regardless of one format's total percentage of h/w sales which format is selling more movies (my reason not to include solo format releases mentioned in my previous post)
  2: you could adjust the sales numbers for the number of h/w and compare sales of movies based upon the number of devices available to play them. For instance if there are 6M BD and 1M HD-DVD and there are 42M BD movies sold and 18M HD-DVD movies sold then this would result in a 7:1 for BD and a 18:1 for HD-DVD for example
  3: You could compile different stats based upon different number counts to include different ideas as to what h/w should be counted (PS3, 360 HD-DVD addons etc)
  
  just a thought.

  16.12.2007 07:35 #22

• juankerr

  Dave Vaughn leaked the numbers again for last week and it wasn't even close. Bourne failed to secure a win for HD due to strong second week sales for POTC 3. BluRay won the Harry Potter race 1.2:1. BluRay has 14 titles in the top 20 and wins handily.
  
  BluRay - 61
  HD DVD - 39
  
  http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/showthread.php?t=955369&page=14
  
  Quote:Bourne Ultimatum wins the week handily selling 3 discs for every 2 discs of second place POTC 3, which will show very strong sales in week 2 and pass Casino Royale in total sales.
  
  On the Harry Potter front, sales will be a bit disappointing for such a big blockbuster. For every one HD DVD, the BD will sell 1.2 copies. HD DVD fans will see this as a “win”, but the fact remains, it will still sell more on BD in the first week.
  
  The box sets in each of the formats will have similar results, but the BD’s will sell slightly better by a 1.3 margin. This will most likely be due to some people buying HP 4 from Europe, but who knows. Overall though, box set sales will be about 20% of the single unit sales.
  
  Planet Earth will continue to show very strong sales on both HD DVD and BD, but for the week the HD DVD will sell almost 1.8 copies for every one 1 on BD as it surpasses the six figure mark in sales since it was first released. The BD should surpass this mark in 3-4 weeks if the trends continue.
  
  So, for the week, 6 of the top 20 titles will be red, but Blu dominates again with 14 titles and handily wins the week 61% to 39% on what will be a record volume of sales for both formats.
  

  20.12.2007 08:12 #23

• error5

  Originally posted by juankerr:
  BluRay - 61
  HD DVD - 39
  Wow - totally unexpected. HD DVD had a good BOGO on amazon last week plus Bourne was expected to sell very well. I guess BluRay will likely be 52 - 0 this year. The Potter ratio was as expected though and may even go higher this week for BD once the Pirates frenzy dies down a bit. What amazes me is the fact that Planet Earth is still going strong.

  20.12.2007 09:10 #24

• eatsushi

  Originally posted by juankerr:
  BluRay - 61
  HD DVD - 39I was expecting 45 Blu:55 HD based on the expected Bourne sales and the amazon BOGO. I was also expecting HD DVD to win the Harry Potter contest but I was wrong again.
  
  For next week I'm expecting Blade Runner to sell more HD DVD's though.
  
  My prediction for next week's numbers:
  
  Blu - 55
  HD - 45

  20.12.2007 17:59 #25

• Shegax

  Untill I can go to my local store and buy a spindle of 25 blueray discs or hddvd for 30$ to burn my own content from my computer...I will wait it out.

  20.12.2007 18:44 #26

• borhan9

  We now know the key to the format wars victory it all depends on the Warner studios to choose a side.

  24.12.2007 02:06 #27

• nobrainer

  The films all suck(from both sides), they ain't worth purchasing!
  
  all movies are about now is generating revenue instead of being works of art, there is more to a movie than a blue/green screen and the cu-ching at the cash registers, but seems its the same business model as the music industry because its controlled by the same companies it has become mostly talentless and bland!
  
  Nice one MPAA, RIAA you are destroying the whole media business by overcharging for mediocre tosh!
  

  Tor: anonymity online HIDE your IP from the spies, post and browse anonymously! http://www.torproject.org/
  
  
  The RIAA Soundexchange Are: SONY, UNIVERSAL, WARNER GROUP, EMI.
  
  The MPAA Are: SONY, UNIVERSAL, WARNER GROUP, DISNEY, PARAMOUNT, FOX.

  24.12.2007 04:21 #28

• juankerr

  Here's Dave Vaughn's Nielsen numbers for the week ending 12/23
  
  Blu 61: HD 39
  
  The Top 20 high def titles:
  
  01. The Bourne Ultimatum
  02. The Simpsons
  03. Pirates 3 - AWE
  04. Harry Potter & tOtP - Blu
  05. Harry Potter & tOtP - HD
  06. Planet Earth - HD
  07. Spiderman 3
  08. Transformers
  09. 300 - Blu
  10. Planet Earth - Blu
  11. Blade Runner - HD
  12. Blade Runner - Blu
  13. Ratatouille
  14. Shrek the Third
  15. Die Hard 4
  16. Superbad
  17. Oceans 13 - Blu
  18. The Departed - Blu
  19. The Silver Surfer
  20. Casino Royale
  
  http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/showthread.php?t=958172&page=9

  28.12.2007 10:55 #29