'Real Steel' Sweeps Home Entertainment Charts

Walt Disney Studios’ Real Steel, a sci-fi actioner with Hugh Jackman and Evangeline Lilly, scored a rare triple-play victory on the national home video charts the week ending Jan. 29, riding its $85.4 million domestic theatrical gross to a No. 1 debut on the overall sales and rental charts as well as the dedicated Blu-ray Disc sales chart.

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On the Nielsen VideoScan First Alert chart, which tracks overall disc sales, Real Steel was followed at No. 2 by another new release, Summit Entertainment’s 50/50, a comedy with a $35 million box office gross. Real Steel, however, outsold 50/50 by a margin of 5 to 1.

On Nielsen’s dedicated Blu-ray Disc sales chart, Real Steel – which generated 54 percent of its first-week sales from the high-definition disc edition – was followed at No. 2 by a third new release, Paramount’s Paranormal Activity 3, which earned $104 million in U.S. theaters and is only available as a Blu-ray combo pack until Feb. 14, when the DVD-only version is released.

Even so, Paranormal managed to debut at No. 5 on the overall disc sales chart and No. 3 on Home Media Magazine’s rental chart, underscoring the growing clout of Blu-ray. To further Blu-ray sales, several studios are toying with tiered release schedules, putting the Blu-ray in stores weeks before the DVD becomes available.

50/50 debuted at No. 2 on the rental chart and No. 3 on the Blu-ray Disc sales chart, generating 45 percent of its total unit sales from the high-definition format.