“Barbie” may have dominated the global box office in 2023 but when it comes to DVDs it turns out even the dextrous doll doesn’t stand a chance against…well, “Black Adam” as it turns out.
Despite disappointing at the box office, Dwayne Johnson’s mystic anti-hero has soared in the U.K.’s DVD charts, beating out a host of big name titles to secure the 2023 top spot with 80,000 units sold since it was released on Jan. 16, according to the British Association for Screen Entertainment (base).
“Barbie,” meanwhile, sold a whopping 66,428 units in just two months, having been released on Oct. 23. Despite that, it failed to snag a spot in the top five.
“Oppenheimer,” which had the same theatrical release date as “Barbie” but came out on DVD in the U.K. a month later (on Nov. 22), managed to climb to fourth position in the DVD charts in the space of five and a half weeks. (Nolan fans are known for their commitment to snapping up the filmmakers’ oeuvre on physical media).
Rounding out the Top 5 were “John Wick: Chapter 4” at number two, “Elvis” at number three and “Top Gun: Maverick” in fifth place.
“Black Adam,” which pulled in $391 million worldwide at the box office compared to “Barbie’s” $1.44 billion, also came in at number three on the U.K. digital rental chart and number four on the Blu-ray chart.
Meawhile “Oppenheimer” led the way in Blu-ray sales, taking the top spot with £1.1 million ($1.4 million). It was followed by “Avatar: The Way of Water,” “John Wick: Chapter 4,” “Black Adam” and “Mission: Impossible” Dead Reckoning Part 1.”
Still, Margot Robbie’s plastic protagonist has reason to celebrate, as it led the U.K.’s home entertainment charts — which combine all digital formats (including SVOD) plus Blu-ray, DVD, electronic sell through (EST) and TVOD – overall. “Barbie” took the top spot with 700,000 units combined across all formats, followed by “John Wick: Chapter 4” with 694,000 units and “The Super Mario Bros. Movie” with 648,000.
“Avatar: The Way of Water” and “Roald Dahl’s Matilda the Musical” rounded out the top five.
In TV, “House of the Dragon” came number one in the TV disc charts for the second year in a row.
base reported that the value of the U.K. home entertainment category rose 10.6% overall year on year, to £4.9 billion thanks to an uptake of subscription services.
