'Hunger Games' Tops Home Entertainment Charts With 3.8 Mil Units Sold

Lionsgate easily topped the national home video charts the week ending Aug. 19 with The Hunger Games. The futuristic thriller – well on its way toward spawning a successful franchise a la Twilight – sold an estimated 3.8 million Blu-ray Discs and DVDs its first weekend in stores (it was released at midnight on Aug. 18), according to Lionsgate.

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Not surprisingly, the film debuted at No. 1 on both the Nielsen VideoScan First Alert chart, which tracks overall disc sales, and Nielsen’s dedicated Blu-ray Disc sales chart. On both charts, Hunger Games bumped the previous week’s top seller, Universal Studios’ The Lorax, to No. 2, outselling the latter by a margin of nearly 4-to-1 in total disc sales (and nearly 5-to-1, Blu-ray only).

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As evidence of Blu-ray’s mass appeal, 43% of Hunger Games unit sales were on the high-definition disc format.

Five other new releases made it into the top 10 on the overall disc sales chart. Season six of the hit TV show Dexter debuted at No. 3, followed at No. 4 by Universal Studios’ Jaws, newly restored and remastered for Blu-ray as part of the studio’s 100th anniversary celebration.

Season three of Glee, from 20th Century Fox, debuted at No. 5 on First Alert, followed at No. 6 by the Sony Pictures feature The Raid: Redemption, a violent Indonesian film that received a limited theatrical release in the United States. Season three of “Community,” also from Sony Pictures, debuted at No. 9.

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On Home Media Magazine’s weekly rental chart, The Hunger Games bowed at No. 1, followed at No. 2 by 20th Century Fox’s The Three Stooges, fresh off its 28-day holdback from Netflix and Redbox. The prior week’s top renter, Universal Studios’ American Reunion, slipped to No. 3, while The Raid: Redemption debuted at No. 4.

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