The Last Samurai starring Tom Cruise and Ken Watanabe, charged its way to the top of the home video sell-through and rental charts during its debut week in release, generating about $13 million in rental revenue alone. Warner Home Video’s actioner was the top-selling DVD in the nation for the week ending May 9, with more than 3.5 million units sold.
Universal Studios Home Video’s Peter Pan sold through more than 1 million combined VHS and DVD units during its first 24 hours in release last week and was the nation’s best-selling videocassette.
Last week’s top-selling DVD, Tim Burton’s Big Fish slipped to No. 4 on VideoScan’s First Alert DVD sales chart. It was the nation’s second-best-renting video, generating an estimated $12.76 million in weekly rental revenue for a 12-day cume of $26.3 million.
20th Century Fox Home Entertainment’s Master and Commander: The Far Side of the World was the nation’s third-best-renting video, generating an estimated $9.72 million in gross rental for a 19-day cume of about $39 million. DVD sales dipped from No. 3 to No. 6 on VideoScan’s weekly sales chart.
Touchstone Home Video’s Calendar Girls was a strong sell-through contender its first week on retail shelves, debuting at No. 2 on VHS and No. 3 on DVD. It also made Video Store magazine’s top 10 best-renting videos chart, debuting at No. 8 during the same frame and generating an estimated $6.51 million in gross rental spending.
