Departed sells 100,00, didnt this already happen?

[TheOmegaSoldier]

So this is deja vu.

http://www.tgdaily.com/content/view/32172/118/

Didn't Casino Royale do this earlier in the year?

[Chris Beveridge]

Casino Royale shipped 100,000. Departed sold 100,000 to consumers across two formats. Best estimates based on past numbers seen for the breakdown would show a 65,000/35,000 split.

[dialog_gvf]

Originally Posted by TheOmegaSoldier

So this is deja vu.

http://www.tgdaily.com/content/view/32172/118/

Didn't Casino Royale do this earlier in the year?

Casino Royale shipped 100K titles. Warner is claiming that The Departed has sold 100K to consumers.

This makes sense. Many of those HD DVD owners would have bought Casino Royale if they owned Blu-ray.

Gary

[TheOmegaSoldier]

Ah thanks for the clarification. Thought somebody was double dipping on announcements.

Is that 65,000 in our favor ?

[Shin-Ra]

^ Yes. I wouldn't put it past Warner to pull another fast one though.

[goodstuff]

Yep, 65000 Blu

[Blu-Ray Buckeye]

Actually if you read the wording exactly they aren't really saying that "Casino Royale" didn't "sell" 100,000, they are pointing out that "Departed" is the first movie released ON BOTH FORMATS to surpass 100,000 while CR was only Blu-ray.

[phloyd]

Indeed - it makes that clarification.

What they are saying is that it is their best selling movie, and Paramount movies are not selling as well as it

[TheOmegaSoldier]

good point blu-ray buckeye. i hadnt' thought of that.

[Blu-Ray Buckeye]

Originally Posted by phloyd

Indeed - it makes that clarification.

What they are saying is that it is their best selling movie, and Paramount movies are not selling as well as it

Exactly. And that's pretty much all they are saying.

[McBain]

Here's the original press release:

Warner Home video first to break the 100K SOLD mark in high definition titles with “The Departed”

Warner Home Video Leads the High Definition Disc Market with Two of the Top-Selling HD DVD and Blu-ray Disc Titles

Burbank, CA, May 24, 2007– Today Warner Home Video (WHV) announced that it is the first studio to surpass sales of 100,000 copies of a high definition title with Martin Scorsese’s 2006 Academy Award®Best Picture winner, “The Departed”.

With the number one and two highest selling titles on high definition formats - “The Departed” and “Superman Returns”- as well as three other titles in the top ten, (“Batman Begins”, “Happy Feet” and “Goodfellas”) Warner Home Video continues to be the market share leader in high definition disc sales.

“It’s no accident that Warner is the first studio to reach this benchmark. We owe this success to a combination of great content and our decision to support both high definition formats,” said Ron Sanders, President of Warner Home Video. “By releasing titles on HD DVD and Blu-ray, Warner Home Video not only increases our potential audience reach, but also offers consumers assurance that regardless of the format they choose they can enjoy our movies.”

With more than 30-percent market share of DVD sales in the high definition market, Warner Home Video has sold more high definition product and released more titles than any other studio. WHV’s support of HD DVD and Blu-ray Disc allows consumers to watch the Studio’s award-winning entertainment on any high definition home viewing device or player they choose.

“High definition media represents an incredible opportunity for the industry, and we, as content providers, can help push mainstream adoption by producing in both formats and giving the consumer a simple choice,” continued Sanders. “At a time when the home video business is flat and high definition media presents our best hope for near term growth, it is unfortunate that we as an industry continue to perpetuate consumer confusion.”

The winner of four Academy Awards® including Picture of the Year and Best Director (Martin Scorsese), “The Departed” features powerful performances from an all-star cast including three-time Academy Award® winner Jack Nicholson (“A Few Good Men”, “As Good As It Gets”), two-time Academy Award® nominee Leonardo DiCaprio (“Blood Diamond”, “The Aviator”, “Gangs of New York”), Academy Award® winner Matt Damon (“Good Will Hunting”, “Ocean’s Eleven”, “Ocean’s Twelve”) and Mark Wahlberg (“The Italian Job”, “Boogie Nights”).

Warner Home Video HD DVD and Blu-ray Discs offer resolution six times higher than standard definition DVDs, as well as extraordinarily vibrant contrast and color and beautifully crisp sound. The new formats also provide a higher level of interactivity, with instant access to extra features via a seamless menu-bar where viewers can enjoy features without leaving or interrupting the film.

With operations in 90 international territories, Warner Home Video, a Warner Bros. Entertainment Company, commands the largest distribution infrastructure in the global video marketplace. Warner Home Video's film library is the largest of any studio, offering top quality new and vintage titles from the repertoires of Warner Bros. Pictures, Turner Entertainment, Castle Rock Entertainment, HBO Home Video and New Line Home Entertainment.

[phloyd]

Yeah, I was reading that elsewhere...

So perhaps one is wrong and they corrected it with the other, or Casino Royale was beaten to the 100k sales mark...

[bluflu]

Casino Royale shipped 100,000 in approx. one week and I'm sure by now has sold 100,000. CR is the best selling Blu-ray disc. Sounds to me like Warner is grooming everyone for their Total HD crap. I agree The Departed was one of Warner's better efforts, but it has been mostly down hill from there.

[Blu-Ray Buckeye]

Originally Posted by bluflu

Casino Royale shipped 100,000 in approx. one week and I'm sure by now has sold 100,000. CR is the best selling Blu-ray disc. Sounds to me like Warner is grooming everyone for their Total HD crap. I agree The Departed was one of Warner's better efforts, but it has been mostly down hill from there.

Yes, CR has definitely sold 100k by now so that can't be the hair they are trying to split. they are trying to market themselves as the true Hd leader because they have decent sales AND support both formats.

[aaronwt]

More sales equals more money. Publishing discs on both formats equals more sales. More fuel to push Universal to go dual format since more money can be made by selling titles on both formats.

[Longshot]

Originally Posted by bluflu

Casino Royale shipped 100,000 in approx. one week and I'm sure by now has sold 100,000. CR is the best selling Blu-ray disc. Sounds to me like Warner is grooming everyone for their Total HD crap. I agree The Departed was one of Warner's better efforts, but it has been mostly down hill from there.

Exactly. Sony would look kind of silly putting out another press release saying 100,000 sold thirty days after issuing one that said 100,000 shipped.

The shame of theWB press release is they won't break down the numbers by format. I'm guessing it's 70/30 bd.

[BuyHDOnline]

Most reports you have read means the amount of movies shipped and not sold. This is one of a few times a studio reported how many movies were sold. Departed HD is my best seller to date...

[haiku_aubade]

Originally Posted by BuyHDOnline

Most reports you have read means the amount of movies shipped and not sold. This is one of a few times a studio reported how many movies were sold. Departed HD is my best seller to date...

i still find it odd that The Departed won Oscars and the original Hong Kong film received no credit since it was an almost exact duplicate. (i've watched both but The Departed was better since it was high budget)

[Esox50]

We know The Departed on BD was outselling the HD DVD by quite a bit back in March. With the exception of Planet Earth, we also know that dual format releases see the HD DVD version dropping off in sales rankings more quickly upon release (and the first few following weeks) than the BD version. In other words, although both versions both peak out around the same rank/ratio initially, the BD sales are more sustained.

I would bet that The Departed BD has continued to outsell the HD DVD version since it's early lead back in March. We also know that WB favors HD DVD.

So, what does all of this mean? What's more important, to me, is what is not said by Warner. Warner Bros. is not trumpeting that both versions sold "about the same" OR that the HD DVD version sold more. And given their format perference, does anyone here realistically think WB would miss the opportunity to "pimp" HD DVD if it were indeed true that HD DVD sold more or about the same as BD? That fact that WB doesn't release the ratio for each format to me only backs up that the BD version accounts for the lion's share of the 100K HD discs. Do you think WB is going to come out and tell everyone to release on both formats and show a sales ratio that proves BD acounts for the majority of the 100K? They's look like fools.

Therefore, this press release is a farce. Warner is using the sales of one title, a title where more than likely BD represents a high portion of this 100K sold, to "advertise" to other studios to go neutral (and to pat themselves on the back in the process).

I am quickly losing respect for WB. Thankfully, I suspect the studio personnell have the actual break out of the 100K sold and see right through this. It's the poor fools at places like AVS that but into this sort of press release.

[efralope]

some more recent hard numbers from homemediaretailing.com:

In March, Sony Pictures Home Entertainment announced it had shipped, rather than sold, 100,000 copies of Casino Royale, which was released on the Blu-ray Disc format only. According to Home Media Magazine’s market research department, actual sales of the title, as of the end of April, stood at 74,280 units. At that same point, the Blu-ray Disc version of The Departed had sold 58,300 units, while the HD DVD edition had sold 35,300 units.

so basically, at the end of April, sales stood at:

Casino Royale - 74,280
The Departed - 93,600 (58,300 BD + 35,300 HD DVD)

I'm guessing the first to 1 million might just be a Warner release like 300 or the new Harry Potter movie, but Shrek 3 could do if Dreamworks Animation decides to support both formats (currently supporting neither, unlike Dreamworks SKG which is supporting both).