“Jack the Giant Slayer” fantasy tops home video charts

PanARMENIAN.Net - Warner Home Video’s Jack the Giant Slayer lived up to its name, slaying the competition on the national home video sales charts the week ending June 23, The Hollywood Reporter said.

The big-screen fantasy actioner, a retelling of the classic British “Jack and the Beanstalk” fairytale, rode its $65.2 million U.S. box office gross to a No. 1 debut on both the Nielsen VideoScan First Alert chart, which tracks overall discs sales from key retailers, including Walmart, throughout the country, and Nielsen’s dedicated Blu-ray Disc sales chart.

On both charts, Jack bumped Walt Disney’s Oz the Great and Powerful to No. 2, although the Wizard of Oz prequel still managed to sell 72.7% as many copies as Jack its second week in stores.

Jack the Giant Slayergenerated 43 percent of its first-week sales from Blu-ray Disc, compared to Oz’s 38 percent.

Three other new releases made it into the First Alert top 10 their first week in stores. 21 and Over, from 20thCentury Fox, debuted at No. 6 (and No. 4 on the Blu-ray Disc chart). The raunchy R-rated comedy, which borrows liberally from The Hangover (the two films have the same writing team of Jon Lucas and Scott Moore), earned $25.7 million in theaters. The film generated 36 percent of its total first-week unit sales from Blu-ray Disc.

Another Fox release, Movie 43, debuted at No. 9 on First Alert (and No. 8 on the Blu-ray Disc sales chart), while Anchor Bay Entertainment’s Quartet bowed at No. 10. Movie 43 is series of interconnected short films starring such big names as Dennis Quaid, Hugh Jackman andKate Winslet, while Quartet is a comedy set in a home for retired musicians.

Paramount’s Hansel & Gretel: Witch Hunters slipped to No. 3 on First Alert its second week in stores, while Universal Studios’ Identity Thief rose a notch to No. 4 its third week in stores. Rounding out the top five on the First Alert sales chart was Lionsgate’s Snitch, which had debuted at No. 3 the prior week.