"Avatar," which broke box office records in its theater run, didn't waste much time breaking sales records at the Blu-ray and DVD levels, even though it wasn't released until nearly halfway through the week-long revenue period. (The title was released on Blu-ray on April 22 in a sales week that ended on April 25.)
Although specific numbers for the first sales period were not released, it was widely reported that "Avatar" had sold more than 3 million Blu-ray discs within the first four days of availability (and about 4 million standard DVDs, as well).
The Blu-ray version, known to be the first of several "Avatar" releases planned by director James Cameron over the next several months, was not in 3D — nor did it contain any extras such as "making of" features. But apparently the 2D 1080p version was more than enough quality for Blu-ray users.
In the second slot behind "Avatar" was another new release, Jeff Bridges' Academy Award-winning "Crazy Heart," followed by former front-runner "Sherlock Holmes." A sci-fi thriller of several years ago, Tom Cruise's "Minority Report," was also just issued on Blu-ray and tied for the seventh slot with "The Blind Side."
The Blu-ray Top 10 title sales for the week ending April 25, according to Nielsen VideoScan:
- "Avatar" (20th Century Fox)
- "Crazy Heart" (20th Century Fox)
- "Sherlock Holmes" (Warner Bros.)
- "The Lovely Bones" (Paramount/DreamWorks)
- "Toy Story" (Disney Studios)
- "The Blind Side" (Warner Bros.)
- "Minority Report" (Paramount/DreamWorks)
- "Toy Story 2" (Disney Studios)
- "2012" (Sony Pictures)
- "X-Men Origins: Wolverine" (20th Century Fox)
