Our DVD and Blu-ray sales estimates are based on weekly retail surveys, which we use to build a weekly market share estimate for each title we are tracking. The market share is converted into a weekly sales estimate based on industry reports on the overall size of the market, including reports published in Media Play News.

For example, if our weekly retail survey estimates that a particular title sold 1% of all units that week, and the industry reports sales of 1,500,000 units in total, we will estimate 15,000 units were sold of that title. The consumer spending estimate is based on the average sales price for the title in the retailers we survey.

We refine our estimates from week to week as more data becomes available. In particular, we adjust weekly sales figures for the quarter once the total market estimates are published by the Digital Entertainment Group. Figures will therefore fluctuate each week, and totals for individual titles can go up or down as we update our estimates.

Because sales figures are estimated based on sampling, they will be more accurate for higher-selling titles.

DVD Sales: Annie vs. Kings

April 7th, 2015

Just as it was on the Blu-ray Sales Chart, there was a tight race for top spot in the DVD sales chart, only the combatants weren't entirely the same. Exodus: Gods and Kings topped Annie in terms of units at 226,000 units to 202,000 units, but the pair finished in the opposite order in terms of revenue with $3.59 million to $3.38 million. More...

Blu-ray Sales: Penguins Become King in Tight Race

April 7th, 2015

New releases earned the top three spots on the Blu-ray Sales Chart this week, including a tight race for top spot. Penguins of Madagascar earned first place over Exodus: Gods and Kings in terms of units, 269,000 vs 257,000. However, in terms of revenue, the pair finished in the reverse order at $5.91 million to $5.38 million. As far the their opening week Blu-ray shares are concerned, Penguins managed a very strong 58%, while Exodus managed a very healthy 54% More...

Limited Release: Still Struggling to Find a Hit

January 16th, 2015

It is a really, really bad weekend to release a limited release. Not only do fans of art house cinema have a lot of films to choose from, but many of them are busy talking about the Oscar nominations, which were just announced. Even so, there are about a dozen limited releases on this week's list. I seriously doubt most of them will do well enough to make a real impact on the box office. There is one exception, as Still Alice is earning great reviews and even picked up a number of major nominations this Awards Season. More...

2015 Preview: January

January 1st, 2015

2014 is over and for the most part, December was a soft ending to a weak year. This is bad news for two reasons. Firstly, it means the overall box office is still soft and it is unlikely that January will start strong. Secondly, last January was a great month, thanks in part to Frozen and other holdovers. The slump can't last forever and Taken 3 should help 2015 get off to a reasonably fast start and it even has a shot at $100 million. American Sniper got off to a really fast start in limited release, so it too could be a hit when it expands wide. By comparison, last January was led by Ride Along, but there were only two other films that didn't completely bomb. I want to say 2015 will start out on a winning note, but given the box office losing streak, it will likely pay to be pessimistic. More...