Third Pirates sells 8 million units in first week

Studios see hope for strong December business

By Susanne Ault -- Video Business, 12/12/2007

DEC. 12 | Pirates of the Caribbean: At World’s End has sold about 8 million copies in North America during its first week on sale, according to multiple industry sources, helping to raise hopes for a strong December at retail.

The third installment of the Walt Disney Studios Home Entertainment franchise, which streeted Dec. 4, appears to be running neck-and-neck with Transformers as the top fourth-quarter title in 2007. Paramount Home Entertainment reported that Transformers sold a little more than 8 million units in its first street week, but this figure included sales into the rental channel. The Pirates estimate only spans direct-to-consumer sell-through, add sources.

Disney execs declined comment.

Also, consumers sailed away with an estimated 160,000 Pirates Blu-ray copies, according to sources, another indication of the title’s strength, sources say. Sony Pictures Home Entertainment singled out Spider-Man 3 as its best Blu-ray seller to date, with 130,000 copies sold over its first six days on sale.

Prior to Thanksgiving, the fourth quarter was proving softer than anticipated, after initial sales of Spider-Man 3 and Shrek the Third were deemed not as large as industry insiders had hoped, given their blockbuster box-office grosses.

At that point, some execs began to predict that 2007 DVD spending might be off by double-digit percentage points from 2006. But sources believe that due to a number of healthy December releases, including Pirates and Dec. 11 quick-starters Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix from Warner Home Video and The Bourne Ultimatum from Universal Studios Home Entertainment, the year could end flat or, at worst, be down by single digits.

Sources say that counting sales into the rental channel, The Bourne Ultimatum has sold 3 million copies on its first day on sale in North America. That is strong considering Shrek the Third, which trumped Bourne at the box office by about $100 million, was estimated to have sold about 1.5 million to 2 million on its first day. Bourne grossed $227 million in the U.S., to Shrek’s $321 million.

20th Century Fox Home Entertainment’s Live Free or Die Hard, released Nov. 20, also appears to have legs at retail, selling more than 5 million copies in North America since its Nov. 20 street, according to sources. That figure includes sales into the rental channel.

There is growing thought among various studios that these later releases, including Live Free or Die Hard, Pirates and Bourne, have turned out to be well-timed for consumers who are starting their holiday shopping later than in past years.

Warner, Universal and Fox did not comment at deadline.