'Hunger Games' Reclaims No. 1 Spot on Sales Chart

The seeds for a hot new franchise have certainly been planted. Continued buzz about The Hunger Games – initial filming began this week on the sequel – propelled the Lionsgate release back into the No. 1 on the Nielsen VideoScan First Alert sales chart, which tracks overall disc sales.

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The film regained the top chart position, after spending a week at No. 2, from Universal Studios’ Battleship, which finished second its sophomore week, selling 72% as many copies as The Hunger Games.

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Another Lionsgate title, the actioner Safe, with a theatrical gross just slightly above $17 million, debuted at No. 3, kicking the Warner romantic drama The Lucky One to No. 4. Universal Studios’ romantic comedy The Five-Year Engagement, with Emily Blunt, bowed at No. 5.

Ironically, on Home Media Magazine’s weekly rental chart, Safe bumped The Hunger Games from the No. 1 spot, which it had occupied for three consecutive weeks. The No. 3 spot went to Universal Studios’ The Lorax, fresh off its 28-day holdback from Redbox and Netflix.

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On Nielsen VideoScan’s dedicated Blu-ray Disc sales chart, Battleship repeated at No. 1 and The Hunger Games encored at No. 2. Safe debuted at No. 3 and The Five-Year Engagement bowed at No. 4.

Battleship last week generated 51% of its total unit sales from Blu-ray Disc, compared to just 35% for The Hunger Games. Safe was right in between, generating 44% of its first-week unit sales from the high-definition disc format.

For complete DVD and Blu-ray sales and rental charts, visit HomeMediaMagazine.com.