Dark Knight first-week sales top 13.5 million worldwide

Title passes 1 million U.S. Blu-ray units, as expected

By Susanne Ault -- Video Business, 12/17/2008

DEC. 17 | Warner Home Video said that its Batman blockbuster The Dark Knight sold more than 13.5 million copies worldwide in its first week on store shelves, including 1.7 million copies on Blu-ray, representing 12.6% of the total.

The numbers span consumer sales and shipments into the rental channel. Consumer sales alone were 10 million units in the week after the title’s Dec. 9 street date, Warner said.

Warner did not immediately break out Dark Knight’s U.S. performance, other than to confirm that the title has sold more than 1 million Blu-ray units in the U.S., as expected.

Industry sources, however, estimate that as many as 7.5 million of the 10 million units sold to consumers were in the U.S. Also, the bulk of the rental units shipped to U.S. retailers.

In its worldwide figure, Warner is counting sales from the U.S., U.K., Canada, Japan, Benelux and Australia markets.

With total units nearing 11 million in the U.S., Dark Knight surpassed the year’s previous biggest debut, Paramount Home Entertainment’s Sept. 30 release of Iron Man. Paramount said the Robert Downey Jr. vehicle moved 7.2 million copies in its first week, including consumer sales and rental shipments in the U.S. and Canada. Iron Man set a then-record for Blu-ray sales, with 500,000 units sold in its first week.

Last year’s No. 1 title, Transformers, moved more than 8 million DVD and Blu-ray copies in its first week in North America, according to supplier Paramount Home Entertainment. That figure includes both sales and rental channels.

Warner also touted the success of its digital copy offering included with The Dark Knight’s Blu-ray and standard DVD versions. Consumers have so far accessed 300,000 of these files since the title’s bow.