'Contagion' Leads Warner Bros.' Domination of Week's Home Video Charts

Warner Home Video snagged the top four spots on the national home video sales charts for the week ending Jan. 8, with the newly released Contagion debuting at No. 1 on the Nielsen VideoScan First Alert chart. Three previous releases followed: The Hangover Part 2 at No. 2, Dolphin Tale at No. 3 and Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part II at No. 4.

our editor recommends

'Rise of the Planet of the Apes' Debuts Atop Home Video Sales Charts

'The Help,' 'Hangover II' Top Home Video Charts

Box Office Report: Steven Soderbergh's 'Contagion' Wins Weekend with $23.1 Mil

The prior week’s top seller, 20th Century Fox’s Rise of the Planet of the Apes, slipped to No. 5 its fourth week in stores, selling about 31% as many copies as Contagion.

Contagion also topped Nielsen’s dedicated Blu-ray Disc sales chart for the week, followed at No. 2 by Hangover and No. 3 by Harry Potter. Rise of the Planets of the Apes, the top-selling Blu-ray disc of the previous week, slipped to No. 6.

PHOTOS: A Guide to Fake Film Diseases

Contagion generated 40% of its first-week unit sales from Blu-ray Disc.

On Home Media Magazine’s video rental chart for the week, Hangover rose to No. 1 now that its holdback from rental outlets such as Netflix and Redbox is over. Universal Studios’ Cowboys & Aliens, also now available at those Netflix and Redbox, shot up to No. 2 from No. 56, while 20th Century Fox’s Mr. Popper’s Penguins, also off its holdback, soared to
No. 3 from No. 63.

Sony Pictures’ Columbiana, the previous week’s top rental, slipped to No. 4.

Another Sony release, Don’t Be Afraid of the Dark, was the week’s highest-charting new release, debuting on the rental chart at No. 6.