MPN Newsletter, January 24: Apple Trumps Disney?; 'Maleficent' Tops DVD, Blu-ray Disc Sales Chart; Comcast CFO on Sub Loss; New Disc, Digital Releases - https://t.co/dmLFltpgJP #Maleficent #Disney #AppleTV #AppleTVPlus #DisneyPlus #Comcast #cordcutting #Ultraman pic.twitter.com/liL1JGkhzZ

— Media Play News (@MediaPlayNews) January 24, 2020

‘Maleficent: Mistress of Evil’ Conjures Up First Place on Disc Sales Charts

Disney’s Maleficent: Mistress of Evil debuted at No. 1 on the NPD VideoScan First Alert chart, which tracks combined DVD and Blu-ray Disc unit sales, and the dedicated Blu-ray Disc sales chart the week ended Jan. 18.
The fantasy sequel, a follow-up to the 2014 “Sleeping Beauty” adaptation Maleficent, earned $113.8 million at the domestic box office.
The previous week’s top seller, Warner’s Joker, slid to No. 2 in its second week.
Another newcomer, Paramount’s sci-fi actioner Gemini Man, debuted at No. 3. The film earned $48.6 million from U.S. theaters.
Lionsgate’s Rambo: Last Blood in its fifth week dropped to No. 4 on the overall sales chart and No. 5 on the Blu-ray chart.
Sony Pictures’ Once Upon a Time in Hollywood was No. 5 on the overall sales chart and No. 4 on the Blu-ray chart in its sixth week.
Other new releases in the top 20 include Funimation’s Dragon Ball Super: Part 10 at No. 9 on the overall sales chart and No. 6 on the Blu-ray chart, and Lionsgate’s Jexi at No. 14 on the overall chart and No. 17 on the Blu-ray chart.
Blu-ray Disc formats accounted for 75% of first-week Maleficent: Mistress of Evil Sales, 60% for Gemini Man and 44% for Jexi. The 4K Ultra HD version comprised 10% of Maleficent: Mistress of Evil‘s total units sales, compared with 16% for Gemini Man. The 4K Gemini Man disc is the first UHD offered in the high 60 frames-per-second rate as opposed to the standard 24fps, and is being touted for its demonstration quality for UHD systems.
On the Media Play News rental chart for the week ended Jan. 19, Gemini Man took the top spot, with Joker slipping to No. 2. Maleficent: Mistress of Evil debuted as the No. 3 rental.
Once Upon a Time in Hollywood was No. 4, followed by Jexi and No. 5.


Thanks Felicity

#Maleficent is dominating the home video sales chart http://t.co/rppW3vIDhz pic.twitter.com/54qf3MYyej
— Variety (@Variety) November 14, 2014

variety

‘Maleficent’ Captures Top Spot on Home Video Sales Charts, Unseats ‘X-Men’

November 13, 2014 | 08:48AM PT

Thomas K. Arnold

Editorial Director, Home Media Magazine

 

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

Yes, it's true: I might be the biggest non-female, non-gay, non-parent fan of Maleficent in the world. It just happened. No idea.
— Scott Weinberg (@scottEweinberg) November 10, 2014

The toddler-age Aurora in Maleficent looks exactly like Brad Pitt.
— Scott Weinberg (@scottEweinberg) November 10, 2014

Of all the fantasy elements found in Maleficent, the thing I find most difficult to accept is that Elle Fanning is Sharlto Copley's kid.
— Scott Weinberg (@scottEweinberg) November 10, 2014

I've been staring at a blinking cursor for about seven minutes. Might be time to stop for the day. And maybe watch Maleficent again.

— Scott Weinberg (@scottEweinberg) November 10, 2014

Somehow I've seen Maleficent two times in three days.

— Scott Weinberg (@scottEweinberg) November 9, 2014

Variety

Blu-ray Mints Green for Studios in First Quarter

May 3, 2013 | 04:56PM PT

Overall homevideo industry grows during first three months of 2013, driven by 'Skyfall,' 'Wreck-It-Ralph'

Marc Graser

Senior Writer @marcgraser

Hollywood’s homevideo industry saw sales rise 5% during the first three months of the year, as consumers bought more Blu-rays.
DVD and Blu-ray disc sales, rentals, digital downloads and subscriptions to streaming services generated $4.7 billion for the biz, according to research released by the Digital Entertainment Group.
Big sellers during the period included Sony’s James Bond actioner “Skyfall” and Disney’s toon “Wreck-It-Ralph.” New titles grew 12% during the quarter.
Studios see the uptick in sales as a signal that the industry is stabilizing after watching revenue from DVD, once the industry’s cash cow, decline over the past several years. Overall industry was flat last year with 2011 at $18 billion.
Among DEG’s findings for the first quarter:

• Blu-ray sales rose 37%, boosting physical disc sales by 2.1% to $2.1 billion. Demand for older catalog titles on Blu-ray rose 16% compared to the first quarter of 2012.
• The electronic sell-thru category was up 51.5%, earning $231.2 million. Category now represents 4.9% of homevid sales, with studios attributing the growth to consumer adoption of UltraViolet.
• Subscriptions to streaming services like Netflix rose 29% to $709.6 million.
• Video-on-demand was up 15.7% to $614.9 million.
• Disc rentals were down nearly 12% to $1.04 billion.
• Nearly 60% of U.S. homes now have a device in their homes that can play a Blu-ray disc. Consumers bought 3.2 million Blu-ray devices during the first quarter.
• And consumers bought 9.4 million HDTVs. There are now 112.6 million HDTV households in the U.S.