Walk the Line stomps on competition
Lady and the Tramp, Pride & Prejudice also bow well
By Susanne Ault and Jennifer Netherby -- Video Business, 3/2/2006
MARCH 2 | Days before the Academy Awards, major contender Walk the Line sold more than 3 million DVD units on its Tuesday street date, according to distributor 20th Century Fox Home Entertainment.
Also on Feb. 28, Buena Vista Home Entertainment’s Lady and the Tramp sold about 1 million units, said industry sources. Although runner-up status, Lady and the Tramp matched first day results of Buena Vista’s last from-the-vault release, Cinderella, in October.
Universal Studios Home Entertainment’s Pride & Prejudice, which earned $38 million at the box office, came in third with around 800,000 units sold.
The numbers for all three titles include copies sold into the rental channel.
Expectations were high for the Johnny Cash biopic, released as widescreen, fullscreen and two-disc special edition versions. Walk the Line headliners Joaquin Phoenix and Reese Witherspoon are both up for Oscars. Trophies will be handed out during the March 5 ABC telecast.
But Fox is still surprised by the film’s DVD debut. It’s on track to outperform its $120 million theatrical gross.
“We had an aggressive goal for it, but this surpassed our expectations by 25%,” Fox senior VP marketing communications Steve Feldstein said. “It will also certainly benefit from the exposure of the Oscars happening this weekend.”
Fox is already shipping re-orders of Walk the Line to retail.
The consumer sprint for Walk the Line also comforts many retailers who were concerned about the title’s last-minute street date confirmation. A strong theatrical run, through January Oscar nominations, led Fox to carefully slot Walk the Line’s DVD release. Its disc bow was not publicly finalized until mid-February.
As part of Fox's promotion, fans can win a free copy of Walk the Line by entering a contest at Web site www.vmix.com. Contestants must download photo stills from the film and create a unique music video. Players also can win a D28 Martin guitar.
