'X-Men' pops DVD, vid lid
Debut equals theatrical success, 'Gladiator' bows big
Consumers spent nearly $50 million buying and renting the DVD and VHS versions of "X-Men" during its first weekend in video stores over the holiday weekend, according to estimates by 20th Century Fox Home Entertainment.
DreamWorks' "Gladiator" will also likely rank as one of the biggest movies of the weekend when box office revenue from its re-release in giant screen theaters is combined with video.
It is believed to have been an even bigger seller than "X-Men" on DVD and will almost certainly be the top DVD and VHS rental title in a week that could be one of the biggest ever for the video industry. But unlike "X-Men," the VHS edition of "Gladiator" is priced to be rented and not purchased until DreamWorks reprices it for sale in a few months.
Close to B.O. of opening
The retail cash flow on "X-Men" is comparable to the movie's huge opening weekend box office gross of $57.5 million just four months ago. It went on to amass $157 million in North America.
Even if "X-Men" sells no more video copies than those that Fox has already shipped, the studio should wind up keeping about $50 million in wholesale revenue.
"This incredible consumer response proves that 'X-Men' was not only an event at the box office, but that it is also an event at retail cash registers," said Fox spokesman Steve Feldstein.
Fox had initially shipped 1.8 million copies of a DVD version of "X-Men" to be sold no lower than a suggested price of $22.95, and then immediately began replenishing store inventories with 500,000 additional copies when 39% of the initial shipment sold on its first day in stores last Tuesday. On Saturday the studio was projecting that 1 million DVD units would be sold by the end of the holiday weekend.
High estimates for weekend
With 22% of the studio's initial shipment of VHS copies sold in the first 24 hours, Fox estimates that 1.12 million copies of the VHS version were sold by Sunday at a price of about $14.95 each.
That adds up to nearly $40 million in purchases alone.
Fox also shipped another 1 million VHS copies and 300,000 DVD copies to retailers for rental purposes. The studio estimates that each of those copies were rented about 2.1 times in the first six days at an average rental price of $3.50, creating nearly $10 million in additional consumer spending on the title.
DreamWorks had the other two new releases last week in "Gladiator" and "Chicken Run."
Several recently-released titles -- such as "The Perfect Storm," "Mission: Impossible 2," "Big Momma's House," "Fantasia 2000," "Toy Story 2" and "The Patriot" -- were expected to contribute to one of the biggest Thanksgiving weekends ever for the rental and sale of VHS and DVD movies.
