Twentieth Century Fox Home Entertainment’s "Walk the Line" strutted into the top spot on both the DVD sales and rental charts the week ended March 5, easily beating a slate of high-profile competitors.
The film’s success — Fox reported 3 million copies were sold the first day alone — underscored the power of the "Oscar bounce," in which nominated films are released on DVD just before the Academy Awards in the hopes of a sales boost.
On VideoScan’s First Alert, the Oscar-lauded Walk the Line outsold second-ranked "Lady and the Tramp," from Buena Vista Home Entertainment, by a significant margin, while third-ranked "Pride & Prejudice," from Universal Studios Home Entertainment, sold a little more than a quarter as many copies as the Oscar-lauded Johnny Cash biopic its first week in stores.
The film also was a big hit in rental stores. "Walk the Line" generated an estimated $9.2 million in rental revenue its first week out, according to Home Media Retailing’s video rental chart. That’s nearly 50% more than second-ranked "Yours, Mine & Ours," a Paramount Pictures Home Entertainment comedy that came to video after a respectable $53.4 million theatrical run.
"Yours, Mine & Ours" debuted at No. 4 on the DVD sales chart, while the previous week’s top seller, Sony Pictures Home Entertainment’s "Rent, "slipped to No. 5.
Two other newcomers to the First Alert top 20: Universal’s "The Ice Harvest," a crime spoof that grossed just $8.8 million in theaters, bowed at No. 6, and the complete fourth season of "Charmed," from Paramount, debuted at No. 12.
Oscar buzz helped lift Lionsgate’s "Crash" back up to No. 13 from No. 18 the previous week, and that was before the drama’s surprise best picture win.
Author: Thomas K. Arnold, Home Media Retailing
