Casino Royale Blu-ray outselling "Fullscreen" DVD (on Amazon)

[Woochifer]

As of this afternoon, the Blu-ray version of Casino Royale ranked #9 on Amazon's sales chart, while the pan&scan DVD version ranked #10. As far as I know, this represents some significant firsts for either of the HD disc formats -

- first time a HD disc title has cracked the top 10
- first time a HD disc title has outsold a DVD version of the same release

http://www.amazon.com/gp/bestsellers...868458-8730468

This might be the sign that HD has come of age, and a sign that Blu-ray at least will survive for the foreseeable future. I'd been reading a lot of chatter on other sites that Casino Royale would be the big breakthrough title for Blu-ray and HD disc viewing in general. While Amazon does not represent the entire market, a top 10 ranking for a HD title certainly supports that view.

Seems that with the Blu-ray version (for now at least) outselling the pan&scan DVD version on Amazon, you got two markets going in opposite directions. It took a while, but it looks like the days are finally numbered for the butchered P&S/"Full Screen" DVDs. It wasn't all that long ago that major outlets like Wal-Mart and Blockbuster flat out would not carry widescreen titles if a P&S version was also available, and it took a letter writing campaign to finally convince Blockbuster to start supporting widescreen.

At this juncture, considering that the Blu-ray format has only been around for less than a year, it's quite a milestone for a concurrent Blu-ray release to break into the top 10 overall, and rank ahead of a P&S DVD version.

In the coming weeks, Blu-ray will also have concurrent releases for The Pursuit of Happyness and Night at the Museum, which could create similar sales momentum for the format.

[Dusty Chalk]

As of this afternoon, the Blu-ray version of Casino Royale ranked #9 on Amazon's sales chart, while the pan&scan DVD version ranked #10. As far as I know, this represents some significant firsts for either of the HD disc formats -

(Emphasis mine. - D.C.)

That's just sad.

Not trying to ignore the rest of your posts, it's just that I have nothing to contribute, other than to scratch my chin and say, [spock]Very interesting.[/spock]

EDIT: Except you neglected to mention that the widescreen version is at #1. I don't think you meant to imply that the Blue-Ray version outsold all of the DVD formats, but that's the way I read it.

[PeruvianSkies]

That's just one vendor...Amazon might be huge, but this is not really a defining moment, especially since that's the P&S version anyway.

[kexodusc]

That's just one vendor...Amazon might be huge, but this is not really a defining moment, especially since that's the P&S version anyway.

Any time one of the nation's largest vendors shows a stat like that, it's of significance.
Quite simply, if no national retailer ever experienced this, the HD formats would die.

I suspect it's a short lived trend, BluRay and HD-DVD buyers right now are early adopters, and are probably more enthusiastic about new releases than the avearge DVD owner.
But it is a milestone to be sure.

[noddin0ff]

I wonder how much of that is people accidentally buying the wrong version...I almost did at the local store. The HD version looks nicer in the box...

[Woochifer]

Any time one of the nation's largest vendors shows a stat like that, it's of significance.
Quite simply, if no national retailer ever experienced this, the HD formats would die.

I suspect it's a short lived trend, BluRay and HD-DVD buyers right now are early adopters, and are probably more enthusiastic about new releases than the avearge DVD owner.
But it is a milestone to be sure.

I think it will be interesting to see how things play out when Pursuit of Happyness, Happy Feet and Night at the Museum come out in the next few weeks. Those are all concurrent DVD/Blu-ray releases (with Happy Feet coming out on both HD-DVD and Blu-ray), and all ranked among last year's top 10 movies at the box office. If they show similar sales trends, then I would guess that it's not necessarily a short-term blip. Understandably though, I can see how a title like Casino Royale would have extra appeal to PS3 owners (who make up the majority of the Blu-ray market right now), who might not necessarily buy a lot of other Blu-ray discs, but would want to have that particular title.

Casino Royale is the first concurrent HD format release from last year's top 10 movies to come out since Superman Returns, which Warner released in late-November when the installed user base was a lot smaller for both HD formats. A lot has happened since then (i.e., Blu-ray taking the sales lead, and sales for both formats growing at a faster pace than originally with the DVD). That's why industry observers like Bill Hunt had been pointing towards Casino Royale's release with such anticipation -- because it serves as an indicator for how the HD market has grown since last November and it's the first in a series of big concurrent HD releases.

It could also be an indicator for the current state of demand for pan&scan DVD releases. I remember that as recently as last year, the P&S versions for new releases typically placed no further than 4 or 5 notches below the widescreen versions on the Amazon charts. In this case, you have a P&S version that's 9 positions below the widescreen version. Sure, it's still in the top 10, but it really makes me wonder how much longer the studios and retailers will continue to support the legacy 4x3 aspect ratio, especially if demand for the HD formats continues to grow. Retailers and studios alike hate maintaining multiple inventories for their releases, and if you already got multiple DVD versions on some releases (widescreen, "full screen," 1-disc, 2-disc, gift pack, etc.) plus HD-DVD and Blu-ray versions, how much longer will they go with this before pulling back? Seems that "full screen" is the only significantly declining market among the different configurations.

I wonder how much of that is people accidentally buying the wrong version...I almost did at the local store. The HD version looks nicer in the box...

Ooops! I guess someone will just have to upgrade their player!

[PeruvianSkies]

Is the fact that people are buying movies at all these days with last year being one of the worst years for movies in ions.

[kexodusc]

Is the fact that people are buying movies at all these days with last year being one of the worst years for movies in ions.

Not sure what charged particles have to do with movies, but I do agree, last year was particularly lackluster and Casino Royale ain't gonna find it's way into my library. :P

I think it will be interesting to see how things play out when Pursuit of Happyness, Happy Feet and Night at the Museum come out in the next few weeks. Those are all concurrent DVD/Blu-ray releases (with Happy Feet coming out on both HD-DVD and Blu-ray), and all ranked among last year's top 10 movies at the box office. If they show similar sales trends, then I would guess that it's not necessarily a short-term blip. Understandably though, I can see how a title like Casino Royale would have extra appeal to PS3 owners (who make up the majority of the Blu-ray market right now), who might not necessarily buy a lot of other Blu-ray discs, but would want to have that particular title.

I'm curious to see what happens, though these particular titles don't really get my heart pumping.
I could see sales hitting an equilibrium of some sort. i'm just not sure people are ready to drop that much on HD players just yet, with a still very limited selection of titles to choose from. While BluRay may enjoy a sizeable lead for some time, I could see the format war dragging on until there's some good cheap players available.

My local Blockbuster manager didn't even know what a BluRay was and thought HD-DVD was some "video game box thing". Sigh.

[recoveryone]

Interesting points my friends, but I feel you all may have missed one factor:

1. The amount of comsumers that now have Widescreen TV's
2. Which results in the WS format to be number 1 seller
3. As with WS, Blu Ray and HD will take time to catch up with avarage Joe
4. The continued Format war of Blu Ray and HD
5. The development of a decent grade of dual format player

[bobsticks]

While this is encouraging, I would imagine that in terms of demographics folks shopping online may be slightly more cosmopolitan than the throngs at Wal-Mart.

[carlito17]

I don't think this is as significant as you'd like. I own a 4:3 tv and I still buy widescreen only. Why? Because I know 100% that my next TV will be a widescreen and I don't want my DVDs to seem obsolete. The fact that Pan&scan is last only reiterates that notion.

When HD discs pass widescreen 420p then you will have something.