The Fox blockbuster X-Men Origins: Wolverine has quietly become the year’s top selling Blu-ray release, surpassing 007: Quantum of Solace in just four weeks.
Fox would not give exact figures but industry sources and analysts have put the movie at about 850,000-900,000 units sold.
“The resounding success of Wolverine on Blu-ray reveals that the consumer still craves their movies the best way possible,” said Fox executive VP of marketing Mary Daily.
The DEG (Digital Entertainment Group) said the Blu-ray sales accounted for about 30 percent of all Wolverine physical media sales, a giant figure.
Fox also notes that Wolverine has been the top cable VOD title for most of October.
Result for: entertainment group
Redbox, a DVD rental Kiosk service that operates 17,900 kiosks in the U.S., has filed a lawsuit against 20th Century Fox for attempting to delay new releases from its machines. Fox, like Universal before it, believe that Redbox’ $1 rental fee and $7 DVD sales seriously undervalue the product, and will do damage to DVD sales by diverting consumers away from stores like Blockbuster where they are surrounded by new DVDs to buy.
The lawsuit was filed on Tuesday in U.S. District Court in Wilmington, Delaware. Redbox had previously sued Universal for the same tactics and is awaiting a decision. The Fox lawsuit accuses the studio of violating antitrust laws by reducing consumer choice in the marketplace, as well as increasing prices that consumers must pay.
Not all studios feel the same way as Fox and Universal however. Sony Pictures reached a deal with Redbox to offer Sony titles for rental, as long as Redbox destroyed the rental DVDs instead of selling them when their rental life is over. Lions Gate Entertainment Group also agreed on Tuesday to make its films available to Redbox immediately.
Universal and Fox are attempting to delay new releases from reaching the kiosks, anticipating that DVD sales will be lost, by pressuring distributors to wait a number of weeks before selling to Redbox. However, Redbox customers won’t have noticed a difference most likely, because the company paid a premium cost and bought new DVDs from retailers instead, hitting the company’s profit margins but maintaining supply.
Result for: entertainment group
Thanks to a new ruling in the U.S. District Court of Miami, a lawsuit filed last year against socialite Paris Hilton will go ahead to trial, despite pleas from her lawyers to have the case thrown out.
The lawsuit is over Hilton’s lack of promotion for her film National Lampoon’s Pledge This , which had a limited theatrical run before being released on DVD by Vivendi.
The suit was filed by the investor group Worldwide Entertainment Group which claims the socialite’s lack of promotion cost them $8.3 million USD in investments based on the film’s performance.
According to IMDB, in the movie Hilton plays a sorority president who takes in a group of unconventional freshman girls seeking acceptance into her house. The movie is also ranked #31 in the Bottom 100 list of all time, with a 1.6/10 rating.
