'The Grey,' 'Chronicle' Top DVD, Blu-ray Sales Charts

Two high-profile new theatrical features, Universal Studios’ The Grey and 20th Century Fox’s Chronicle, debuted in the two top spots on both national home video sales charts for the week ending May 20: the Nielsen VideoScan First Alert sales chart, which tracks overall disc sales, as well as Nielsen’s Blu-ray Disc-only sales chart.

our editor recommends

'The Grey': What the Critics Are Saying

The Grey: Trailer

How the Church Helped Turn 'Devil Inside' Into Mega-Hit

'Chronicle' Director Josh Trank on His Surprising Success, Possible Sequel

The Grey, an action-adventure film, starring Liam Neeson, about a group of oil workers struggling to make their way home after a plane crash in the bleak Alaskan tundra, earned $51.5 million in theaters.

Chronicle, a sci-fi drama about a group of teens who acquire powerful telekinetic abilities, grossed $64.5 million and according to Nielsen data sold about 80 percent as many discs as The Grey.

But neither title was among the week’s top 20 rentals, as tracked by Home Media Magazine, because both Universal and Fox delay shipping new releases to Netflix and Redbox, the two primary rental channels, by 28 days in the hopes of boosting sales.

Even so, two other new releases snagged the two top rental spots: Paramount's The Devil Inside ($53.3 million) bowed at No. 1, followed at No. 2 by the Lionsgate comedy One for the Money ($26.4 million).

The Devil Inside debuted at No. 9 on First Alert, selling just 14.5 percent as many units as The Grey. One for the Money bowed at No. 4, selling nearly 48 percent as many units as The Grey.

It is interesting to note that the two top sellers generated the majority of their total unit sales from Blu-ray Disc: 51 percent for The Grey and 58 percent for Chronicle – while the two top renters each generated more than 75 percent of their total unit sales from standard DVD.

A fifth new release that fared surprisingly well was Rampart, a crime drama with Woody Harrelson distributed by Millennium Entertainment. The film, which earned less than $1 million in theaters, nevertheless bowed at No. 7 on First Alert, No. 9 on the Blu-ray Disc sales chart and No. 5 on Home Media Magazine’s rental chart.