'Avengers' Remains No. 1 on Home Entertainment Charts

The summer theatrical megahit The Avengers, from Walt Disney Studios, continued its reign atop the national home video sales charts for the second consecutive week and proved so potent that it debuted at No. 1 on Home Media Magazine’s video rental chart even though it wasn’t readily available through Netflix or Redbox, at least officially. Observers attribute the early showing – Disney titles are generally held back 28 days – to “sideways” buying, in which Redbox copies are purchased at retail.

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The Avengers encored at No. 1 on both the Nielsen VideoScan First Alert chart, which tracks overall disc sales at most major retailers (except Walmart and Sam’s Club), and Nielsen’s dedicated Blu-ray Disc sales chart.  The No. 2 spot on both charts, for the week ending Oct. 7, went to another Disney title: the animated classic Cinderella, making its Blu-ray Disc debut.

Bowing at No. 3, again on both charts, was Dark Shadows, from Warner, the theatrical remake of the 1960s horror TV series that despite a cast headed by Johnny Depp – and Tim Burton in the director’s chair – earned less than $80 million in U.S. theaters.

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Lionsgate’s The Hunger Games remained in the top 5 on both sales charts, eight weeks after its release.

On Home Media Magazine’s rental chart, Universal Studios’ Battleship remained at No. 2 for the second consecutive week, while the prior week’s top renter, Lionsgate’s The Cabin in the Woods ($42.1 million), slipped to No. 3.