oct 12, 2017 - Johnny Depp Fifth 'Pirates' Movie Sails to Top of Home Video Sales

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FROM HOME MEDIA MAGAZINE:

Fifth 'Pirates' Movie Sails to Top of Home Video Sales

By: John Latchem

Walt Disney Studios' Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Men Tell No Tales debuted at No. 1 on the NPD VideoScan First Alert sales chart, which tracks combined DVD and Blu-ray Disc unit sales, and the dedicated Blu-ray Disc sales chart the week ended Oct. 7.

The fifth film in the franchise based on the popular "Pirates of the Caribbean" Disneyland ride earned just $172.6 million at the domestic box office, the lowest tally of the five films, but outsold by a 3-to-1 margin the week's No. 2 overall title, Paramount's Transformers: The Last Knight.

The latest "Transformers" sequel in its second week was also No. 2 on the Blu-ray chart, selling 28% as many copies as the new "Pirates." On both charts, Last Knight, the previous week's top title, edged out Warner's Wonder Woman, which slipped one spot to No. 3 on both charts in its third week on shelves.

The No. 5 title on both charts was another newcomer, Universal's direct-to-video Cult of Chucky, the seventh film in the horror franchise about a killer doll that began with Child's Play in 1988.

On the overall chart, Chucky finished behind Disney's Halloween favorite Hocus Pocus, while on the Blu-ray chart, No. 4 was Disney's Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2. (Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2 was No. 6 overall, while Hocus Pocus was No. 6 on the Blu-ray chart.)

Retail promotions tied to Halloween helped push several catalog titles back into the top 20, including a "Halloweentown" double feature from Disney at No. 12, Disney's The Nightmare Before Christmas at No. 14, Sony Pictures' Monster House at No. 16 and Universal's Casper at No. 17.

Meanwhile, the new "Pirates" sequel helped bring previous films in the franchise back into the Blu-ray top 25, with 2011's On Stranger Tides at No. 12, 2007's At World's End at No. 19, and 2006's Dead Man's Chest at No. 20. The original film, 2003's Pirates of the Caribbean: The Curse of the Black Pearl, landed at No. 23. Best Buy had been running a promotion offering the earlier films in the franchise on Blu-ray for as low as $7.99 each.

Blu-ray Disc accounted for 78% of first-week unit sales of Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Men Tell No Tales, and 47% for Cult of Chucky.

On Home Media Magazine's rental chart for the week ended Oct. 8, Wonder Woman held onto the top spot, with Transformers: The Last Knight at No. 2, both for the second consecutive week. Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Men Tell No Tales debuted at No. 3.

Rounding out the top five, Lionsgate's 47 Meters Down was No. 4 and DreamWorks Animation's Captain Underpants: The First Epic Movie, distributed by 20th Century Fox, was No. 5, each slipping one spot from the previous week.

Cult of Chucky debuted as the No. 6 rental, with Universal waiving its usual 28-day holdback for new releases at Redbox rental kiosks.

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