Avatar smashes Blu-ray sales records, has some owners ready to smash incompatible players
Well, well. Our friend Jimmy C.'s (who cancelled on our planned interview last week, but it's cool) little indie project has taken the all-time Blu-ray sales crown for North America in just four days. That's how long it took for Avatar to move 2.7 million Blu-ray discs, ahead of The Dark Knight's 2.5 million number, showering viewers with that incredibly high bitrate audio and video (other than some pleading for more low end thump, we haven't heard any complaints.) The downside for a few, including one Crunchgear editor, is that the movie shipped with a new version of BD+ encryption and has had trouble playing on certain Blu-ray players, including the BD-UP5000, BD-C5500, as well as several Pioneer units (fixed after a firmware update.) Some owners have found a way around the issues for the BD-C5500, but there's no word when an update to take care of things completely may be incoming. If you're wondering how much time the extra DRM bought Fox & co. before the BDRips started floating around, DVDFab claimed to break it the same day the movie launched, while Slysoft's AnyDVD HD has offered compatibility with some, if not all, region releases the day after. So much for that ten year prediction.
Show full PR text
AVATAR Is the #1 Movie in North America -- This Time on Blu-ray and DVD
Fans Return To Pandora Delivering Record Breaking Blu-ray Sales
In Only Four Days
Epic Fantasy Has Become Tipping Point for Blu-ray Adoption
LOS ANGELES (April 26, 2010) – Twentieth Century Fox Home Entertainment announced today that James Cameron's phenomenal epic AVATAR became the best selling Blu-ray of all time after just four days in stores, with an astonishing 2.7 million units sold in North America alone. AVATAR Blu-ray sales crushed the previous record of 2.5 million units.
Retail sales of AVATAR Blu-ray and DVD Discs have exceeded 6.7 million units since its launch last Thursday, on pace to be the best selling title in recent history.
The extraordinary initial sales for AVATAR are clearly a game changer for the Blu-ray format. Blu-ray players for the first time are surpassing DVD players at retail outlets across the country as fans are upgrading their systems to experience the best picture and sound quality available.
The ultimate high definition experience for home viewing audiences, the April AVATAR
Blu-ray and DVD release features the film and corresponding menu, utilizing the disc's entire storage space in order to provide the highest quality picture and sound. An action-adventure journey of self-discovery that dramatically demonstrates how human invasion almost destroys the balance of life on the planet Pandora, the Oscar® and Golden Globe®-winning AVATAR is the highest grossing film of all time, taking in over $2.7 billion in worldwide box office. Written by James Cameron and produced with his long-time collaborator Jon Landau, AVATAR stars Sam Worthington, Zoë Saldana, Sigourney Weaver, Stephen Lang, Michelle Rodriguez, Giovanni Ribisi, Joel David Moore, CCH Pounder, Wes Studi and Laz Alonso.
