450°

'Avatar' shatters DVD and Blu-ray records

Marc Graser of Variety writes:

"Earth Day turned into Christmas for 20th Century Fox Home Entertainment last week as consumers clamored to re-visit Pandora.

To no one's surprise, Hollywood's top earning movie at the box office with a $2.7 billion global haul, shattered records around the world with the release of its DVD and Blu-ray over the weekend.

As of Sunday afternoon, the film had sold 6.7 million copies in four days in North America alone, according to retailers and sources close to the studio. Of that, 2.7 million were on Blu-ray, shattering the record that previous best-seller "The Dark Knight" had reached. That pic took 18 months to sell 2.5 million Blu-rays."

PimpHandHappy5147d ago

happy i didn't buy into HD-DVD
Avatar in blueray is awesome on my PS3
:-)

5147d ago
Halo3 MLG Pro5147d ago

Bluray is dead? Well first of all we're talking about the biggest grossing film of all time here. It takes big budget movies for bluray movies to make a splash. How are bluray sales doing with lesser known titles? How about simple romantic comedies? Standard dvds still outsell bluray's pretty significantly. It might not be dead, but it's not taken over standard.

garos825147d ago

i honestly loved avatar. great movie with good underlying theme. definately want to pick this up but i would have expected them to release it in 3d first, to help pick up the 3d craze at home.

evrfighter5147d ago

avatar was the first blu-ray I saw on my ps3. It was so boring I stopped it half-way through to hit some golf balls at the driving range.

Bathyj5147d ago

Top of the range/State of the art never overtakes the middle of the road Halopro.

Are Bentleys more popular that Corrollas?
Is Caviar a bigger seller than Hotdogs?

Stop acting like BR has to kill DVD for it to make its own mark. You can still buy VHS for godsake. You'll never go broke appealing to the lowest common denominator.

I like being in the minority if it means flying 1st Class over coach.

Bathyj5147d ago

@evrfighter

That figures. I imagine you'd rather play with your balls than have anything to do with PS3.

Army_of_Darkness5147d ago

"How about simple romantic comedies? Standard dvds still outsell bluray's pretty significantly."

seriously dude.. who's gonna buy a ROMANTIC COMEDY on Blu-ray?!... On blu-ray? gawddammit!?! there's no special effects or anything eye candy amazing in those type of movies that will encourage me to get it in high def...I mean, what's the point when it's just talking throughout the movie?!
to be honest, I only buy action movies in HD because that's where blu-ray really shines and is actually worth it!

Halo3 MLG Pro5147d ago

Bath, my argument on bluray has always been the same and that is it will never overtake the other options out there. Growing evidence has proven that digital download is the future. Bluray will never be number 1. It will always be like Laser disc was in the past. Only the videophiles would prosper from it. And big budget movies like Avatar would do well on bluray and not the lesser known titles. Their are people here that believe that bluray would over take standard which is beyond stupid to believe. Bluray is a niche market and will always be.

badz1495147d ago

I watch it after people reading reviews and everything but after watching it, I realized that it's just a glorified CG showcase! story-wise, it's quite average with cliche all over the place! good that it does tremendously good commercially though, but it's not up there among the best movie IMO!

Bathyj5147d ago (Edited 5147d ago )

The only thing stopping BR from being #1 now is price. Now will that go up or down, do you think?

Be that as it may, DVD will always be cheaper and you're right, its not going anywhere, and BR will be for those that like the top shelf, like me.

But I find it bordering on ridiculous to think DD will be number 1 any time soon. Most of us cant even get ADSL 2. Hell I know people with dial up still, or worse yet, NO INTERNET. Do these people stop watching movies now?

I have about 270 BR and maybe 600 DVDs give or take a 100. Do you know how long that would take to DL'd all those films, let alone the cost. My plan only give 35GB at peak a month. Thats one or two BR's.

Plus, believe it or not, people like to own a physical copy of something. As if to say, its mine, its in my hand, I can touch it. It wont be vapourware if my HDD crashes. By the time DD is the norm I'll probably just teleport to JB HIFI and buy my movies on 200GB BR discs.

A Sony rep once said The easiest way to get 200GB of data into your house is on a BR disc, and its still true today, and will remain true until lightening interent speeds are commonplace, not just possible.

Anorexorcist5147d ago (Edited 5147d ago )

"Bluray will never be number 1. It will always be like Laser disc was in the past."

That's funny, because you could pretty much attribute todays situation between Blu-Ray and DVD against the past situation between DVD and Laserdisc. Laserdisc laid the foundation as the forerunner to the format of DVD and Blu-Ray has come away from DVD in that same respect.

Also, you fail to realize (I assume intentionally) Laserdisc was an obscure format because of the great price advantages VHS and Betamax had over it. Blu-Ray film MSRPs are continuously dropping down to more marketable levels and Betamax did not enjoy as much market and inter-industry support as Blu-Ray enjoys now.

Nevertheless, if Blu-Ray is not #1 in films, it will be #1 in video games. Digital Distribution will takeover before Blu-ray, you say? Why? Because Microsoft says so? Well if Microsoft was so confident about the oncoming advent of DD, why didn't they just pass on HD-DVD and try to establish DD from the start of this generation? Digital Distribution certainly looks to be a viable alternative for films and videogames in the future, but admit it, it only became the center of MS's attention after they failed to back a successful new tangible format in the form of HD-DVD. Microsoft is now just trying to play very coy now after the failure of HD-DVD.

With HD films and television shows continuously becoming a bigger part of the entertainment industries and the buying public becoming more accustomed to High-Definition entertainment, it is absolutely insane for you to say Blu-Ray will always be a niche and will never be adopted by the majority. But then again, with that avatar and screenname of yours, I don't expect you to be even the least bit objective about Blu-Ray's prospects in any way. Maybe that'll all change when MS announces Blu-Ray support for the next Xbox.

You practically sound like Grampa Simpson when he said people wouldn't catch on to color television because they would get confused as to whether they are looking at a box with an antenna on top of it or looking out the window.

NateNater5147d ago

Avatar is just Pocahontas in space (See Pic).

HolyOrangeCows5147d ago

"6.7 million copies in four days in North America alone, according to retailers and sources close to the studio. Of that, 2.7 million were on Blu-ray"

Nice. About a 3:7 ratio. That's pretty impressive. Blu-ray is picking up steam. And with price going down on the discs, it can only improve further.

The Time Reaper5147d ago

"Growing evidence has proven that digital download is the future."

And growing monopolization, throttling, bandwidth restrictions, etc prove that the reality of that future is far far away.

Anon19745147d ago

I could have swore that it was doomed...

cool cole5147d ago

I think you mean 3:4 ratio, but hell, I could be wrong.

Therealspy035147d ago

how is this gaming news?

second...who said blu-ray is dead? it's the biggest disc storage medium on the market so it has the best quality...kinda a stupid thing to say and a really stupid way to start the thread.

third...avatar sucked...big time.

Biggest5147d ago

How are people surprised by Avatar's success? A blockbuster isn't supposed to charm your pants off. It isn't supposed to gently tug at your heart strings. It is supposed to be a big flashy movie that makes people go to the theater. You can watch The Green Mile in the comfort of your home in front of your SD Sony Trinitron and get the full effect of the great movie feeling. But most people can not experience the "OMG WOW!" of a blockbuster in their home. Avatar did its job exceedingly well. I bought it on BluRay the day it was released. I can say without a doubt that I bought my LG LEDTV and Onkyo 7.1 HT for movies like Avatar. A great use of my $3000 + $20.

The Wood5147d ago

great film

Onkyo, great receiver...pity about ur screen though:)

commodore645147d ago

DVD still around?

How is this possible?
Ps3 fans on N4g assured us all that DVD was dead?
Yet, here we see DVD records shattered and making new highs.

Golly!

MNicholas5147d ago

Amazing.

I feel bad for all those people who bought HD-DVD. With big companies like Microsoft and Toshiba trying their best to fool the public (remember the pure fiction 51GB HD-DVD?) they can't be blamed for making the wrong choice.

However, I have no sympathy for the supposedly geeky types who trolled forums providing free marketing for Microsoft and Toshiba by repeating the same false advertising pushed by those companies.

dcbronco5147d ago (Edited 5147d ago )

You do realize that there is a huge price difference in Bentleys and caviar compared to corrollas and hotdogs. Most people can't afford Bentleys and caviar, if they could more would buy then. Not sure why. But people can afford Blu-rays, they aren't that high. Most just don't believe the difference is warranted. And some know that the price is a scam. It doesn't cost that much more to make Blu-ray now. The studios just want to make themselves richer on us.

But the reality is that Blu-ray was made to takeover the market. Four years in and it is a small percentage. With nothing pointing to a change. Like Halo mentioned, it only sells big to the special effects market. And then for certain movies. The general public is still not that into it. Most movies sell a lot less on Blu-ray. That's why you seldom see one of these articles posted. The information is out there that it doesn't do well on most releases, the Blu-ray fans just aren't quick to post those. If they had any guts, they would post the Home Media Magazine numbers every week instead of just on the big Blu-ray weeks. Blu-rays numbers average 12% a week. Not much more than last year.It has made moves, but it will be another Betamax in the long run. Digital Downloads will eventually pass it. DD grew 37% last year on Xbox live. It's just a matter of time before Media Servers become the norm and DD with it. Blu-ray had a huge push by Sony and the studios and not many bit. Technology moves on. Three and 4% annual gains will enough to establish Blu-ray before DD becomes available to most of the country.

Here's HMM for 4/18/10

http://www.homemediamagazin...

Check back each week. And look at previous digital copies for earlier stats. Also remember that that is based on moey and not disc. The disc numbers are far less since Blu-ray cost more. But money is what matters to the studios.

cardgenius5146d ago (Edited 5146d ago )

Make sure to read the last paragraph in the article.

http://www.blu-ray.com/news...

And Blu-ray will become the dominant format once the movie studios decide to stop making DVDs. Its the same thing they did with DVD and VHS. DVD only became king after the movie studios decided to kill off VHS. Its only a matter of time before DVD goes the same route.

FamilyGuy5146d ago

Is there some sort of hypnosis going on here? Avatar wasn't/isn't even that great of a movie.

It's "good" but I even found Section 9 to be more action packed and a better movie overall. "The Dark Knight" was FANTASTIC and completely deserving of it sales and to place this in a higher category seems ridiculous

I thought its high sales at the theater were do to the expensive cost of seeing it in 3-D at an IMAX but this smashes that theory so what gives?

Do any of you guys think it was the best movie of the last 5-10 years?

TotalPS3Fanboy5146d ago (Edited 5146d ago )

Halo3 MLG Pro doesn't buy his movies on BluRay. He buy his movies on DVD. Because DVD is the future. Not only that, Halo3 MLG rather own a digital copy instead of a real physical copy.

Of course, there's nothing wrong with his preference of an inferior format, and there's also nothing wrong with his preference of taking 3 to 4 days to download a 50 GB BluRay movie. That's just his preference. So you guys shouldn't laugh at him for it.

FlameBaitGod5146d ago (Edited 5146d ago )

MLG is just butt-hurt that blu-ray is doing way better than expected

commodore64

"Ps3 fans on N4g assured us all that DVD was dead? "

Wanna start posting those links of proof? You wont cause there probably isn't any.

MLGPRO

"Growing evidence has proven that digital download is the future"

You wanna start posting those links of evidence, because you seem to know plenty. So posting 3 to 5 links should be easy right

+ Show (25) more repliesLast reply 5146d ago
Kratos Spartan5147d ago

it's not 3D is it? The commercials I've seen for it don't mention that. If not, then what's the point? I missed it in theaters.

DarkTower8055147d ago (Edited 5147d ago )

The 3D Blu-Ray version will be available in June :)

MajestieBeast5147d ago (Edited 5147d ago )

Ahh the mw2 of movies shatterd records. So sad the movie was avarage and cartman had the rights first with dances with smurfs.

Halo3 MLG Pro5147d ago

Definitely a movie to own as Blu-ray. The plot was pretty basic but the special effects and the creative world were insane.

-MD-5147d ago (Edited 5147d ago )

Shame such a mediocre movie met with so much success.

Movies like Kick-Ass are better in almost every way yet don't meet with the success they deserve.

ZombieAutopsy5147d ago

eh kickass is right there with Avatar, both are suppose to be good but fall short...though id rather watch Avatar than Kickass.

The Wood5147d ago

is better than avatar imo

great film and not what you'd expect unless you've read the comic...go watch it

Show all comments (86)
80°

The INDIE Live Expo 2024 event showcased +150 Games during its Saturday broadcast

"INDIE Live Expo, Japan’s premiere online digital showcase series connecting indie game fans all over the world, highlighted more than 150 games during its Saturday broadcast introducing world premieres, new trailers, and updates during its 10th-ever digital showcase." - INDIE Live Expo.

TGG_overlord14h ago

Very much so, there should be something in there for everyone to enjoy for sure.

60°

The DevGAMM conference is returning to Lisbon (Portugal) on November 14th, 2024

"Following a great event in November of last year, DevGAMM Lisbon is coming back to the beautiful and sunny Cascais region to catch up with old friends, connect with game developers from around the world, hear from seasoned professionals, and have a great time all around." - DevGAMM.

80°

Why Indie Games Fail To Keep Their Place In The Spotlight

A look into the sad trajectory of indie games from high successful releases to complete irrelevancy in just a few weeks or months.

shaenoide3d ago

Easy not enough developpers to add content to the game (palworld)

Profchaos2d ago

That's the thing with gaming there's always new experiences to have why spend months or years playing a single game when there's a new experience right around the corner.

Indie or AAA if your building your game expecting long term player counts you'll probably be disappointed as gamers often enjoy something for a few weeks and move on only to return if it's truely a classic.

Out of all the generations I've experienced there's games from 30 plus years ago I still dust off and play like super Mario bros, earthbound, vice city and san Andreas being games I treasure and revisit every few years but I'm not going back to play a game designed to keep me engaged for months on end because it's also designed to milk my wallet in most cases.

Build a great game that people love make it playable offline and ask does it matter if the concurrent player count is under 100 a year post launch more often that not it doesn't

P_Bomb2d ago

The price of entry is too high to take chances like I used to. Was looking at V Rising and that ranges from $50-$130 CAD. That’s a lot for an indie imo. By the time it goes on sale, the player count might be dwindling. But that’s the trade-off, I guess.

Si-Fly2d ago

I’m glad my preference is single player experiences, Indie devs got me covered 👊🏻

Flewid6382d ago

Indie devs dont make multiplayer games?

Si-Fly2d ago

Read the article dude 👍🏻

Flewid6382d ago

Read the article. Same question.