Dark Knight smashes Iron Man record!

[RedIsNotBlue]

The Dark Knight moves 600,000 units on first day!

Customers in the U.S., Canada and the U.K. purchased 3 million copies of “The Dark Knight” on DVD and Blu-ray on Tuesday, the first day in stores. For a title to sell 1 million copies in a single day is considered strong.

Sales of next-generation Blu-ray discs alone totaled 600,000 on the first day, leading Warner Brothers to project Blu-ray sales will total 1 million by Saturday. In a surprise, Blu-ray sales were especially strong at grocery stores, indicating that the format is broadening beyond early adopters to more mainstream buyers, notably women.

“Numbers like these in this economic environment firmly establish Blu-ray as where consumers are headed,” said Kevin Tsujihara, president of Warner Brothers Home Entertainment. To compare, “Iron Man” held the previous single-day sales record for Blu-ray discs with about 250,000 sold.

Ron Sanders, president of Warner Brothers Home Video, said sales were strong enough to give him confidence about how the DVD business overall will hold up during a significant recession. “We are are blowing past all our internal projections,” he said.

Hollywood has been worried that home entertainment – the industry’s cash cow for a decade – will wilt along with consumer spending. DVD sales are down about 6 percent for the year, analysts say, but holiday sales are considered especially important. That’s because the entertainment and retail industries are making a big push to convert consumers to Blu-ray by deeply discounting players and because an array of blockbuster movies are set for release.

Warner Brothers was worried about DVD sales for “The Dark Knight” – which the studio is pushing as a Best Picture contender at the Oscars – and not just because of the economy. When movies do exceptionally well in theaters they sometimes underperform on DVD because so many people have already seen them, analysts say. Worldwide ticket sales for “The Dark Knight” stand at about $1 billion.

http://carpetbagger.blogs.nytimes.co...ight-campaign/