The Avengers have clinched the #1 Blu-ray/DVD spot. Of course you didn’t have to be Nostradamus to predict the home video release was going to be huge, but the numbers are impressive nonetheless.
As The Hollywood Reporter confirms, The Avengers sold 34 times more copies than Batman: The Dark Knight Returns, which came in at #2. Once again, The Avengers and Batman are duking it out for the top spot, and The Avengers seem to have won this round.
The Avengers brought back the other superhero flicks that are part of the family tree to the Nielsen VideoScan First Alert chart. In the Top 25 are Thor at #8, Captain America at #13, Iron Man 2 at #14, The Incredible Hulk at #19, and the first Iron Man at #23, and they all also made it to the top 20 Blu-ray charts.
You also wonder if the film could help finally break through the Blu-ray ceiling because 72% of the Avengers home video sales came in the format. The Reporter says this is “a record high for a new-release theatrical on disc in which both DVD and Blu-ray formats were equally available.”
As the Reporter continues, “23% of total Avengers sales were of the pricier 3D Blu-ray combo pack.” When the Avengers box-set is ready, which will also include the Iron Man flicks, Captain America, and the Hulk movies, it should also clean up, even though so many people will have the Avengers on Blu-ray / DVD by then.
In short, Avengers mania is still going strong, and it will be interesting to see how the Blu-ray sales pushes the movie’s profits up the charts, and what its ultimate impact on the Blu-ray format will be. Usually a big hit movie will make a new home entertainment technology stick, and we’re curious if The Avengers will indeed be that film.
