The Hollywood Reporter released week one sales figures for the big HD format showdown, The Matrix on HD-DVD versus Pirates of the Caribbean on Blu-ray. First, the hard numbers:
The PotC movies sold about 47,000 copies combined, while the two Matrix collections sold about 14,000 copies. Looks like a victory for Blu-ray, right? Well, yes and no.
The “Yes” is clearly in the numbers. There’s little to argue PotC’s success, and I would venture to guess those also drove a little spike in hardware sales as well. And especially with all the retail deals offered with the Matrix collections, coupled with the price drop in Toshiba HD-DVD players, it’s surprising it had as little impact as the numbers show.
Now for the “No”s. No, price was surely an inconsistent factor. PotC’s average retail price was about $25 per copy, where as the two Matrix collections, Complete and Ultimate, were three to four times more expensive respectively. No, Matrix isn’t as fresh as PotC. The Matrix movies didn’t benefit from a Memorial Day theatrical blockbuster as a tie-in to drive sales. I would venture to guess that even the standard definition DVD sales saw a big spike, as people rushed to catch up with the first and second films in the trilogy before taking in the third film; in that respect, it could be viewed as a disappointment for Blu-ray because sales weren’t as high as they should have been. And the third no – the Matrix just isn’t as important anymore. As I said with the Spidey debacle, the last two disasters of Matrix films not only ruined the franchise, but also stopped a whole lot of people who didn’t want to fork over $75 for one good film, regardless of how many “p”s (as in, 1080p) they have.
Overall, I’m surprised at how low sales figures for both franchises are, but more so for the Matrix. With all the player rebates, free movie deals and price mistakes, not to mention Warner’s big marketing blitz for the release, I would have expected it to do about as good if not better than its opponent. After all, Planet Earth has consistently been on the top of the overall DVD charts for HD-DVD and Blu-ray, so there’s an audience ready and willing to pay a premium for HD-DVD sets like this.
‘Pirates’ Outsells ‘Matrix’ in Blu-ray, HD DVD Showdown (Updated) | High-Def Digest