steebo777

The title says it all. Here's the press release I received:

WALT DISNEY PICTURES'
PIRATES OF THE CARIBBEAN:
THE CURSE OF THE BLACK PEARL
FIRST WEEK LIVE-ACTION HOME ENTERTAINMENT RECORD

11 Million Units Sold in First Week of Release

BURBANK, CA/December 8, 2003 - PIRATES OF THE CARIBBEAN: THE CURSE OF
THE BLACK PEARL, one of this year's top grossing films, has gone on to
sell 11 million DVD and VHS units in its first week of sales becoming
the largest opening week live-action home entertainment title in
history.

"We couldn't be more thrilled with the success our home entertainment
titles have had this year," said BVHE president Bob Chapek. "This has
been a phenomenal year for the Studio and a testament to our strength of
turning these great movies into huge home entertainment successes."

>From producer Jerry Bruckheimer comes the thrilling action-adventure
PIRATES OF THE CARIBBEAN: THE CURSE OF THE BLACK PEARL, starring Johnny
Depp, Geoffrey Rush, Orlando Bloom, Keira Knightley and Jonathan Pryce.
Screen story by Ted Elliott & Terry Rossio and Stuart Beattie and Jay
Wolpert. Screenplay by Ted Elliott & Terry Rossio. Directed by Gore
Verbinski. The biggest live-action theatrical blockbuster of the year,
this action-packed tale is currently available in a 2-disc DVD set and
VHS from Walt Disney Home Entertainment.

On 2-disc Disney DVD, PIRATES OF THE CARIBBEAN: THE CURSE OF THE BLACK
PEARL features nineteen deleted scenes, audio commentary with Johnny
Depp, Keira Knightley and the filmmakers, behind the scenes and on the
set features, cast and crew video diaries and much more. 2-disc DVD:
$29.99 (SRP); VHS: $24.99 (SRP).

Chapek added, "This title along with Finding Nemo, The Lion King,
Chicago, Sweet Home Alabama and Signs have allowed BVHE to enjoy a
wonderful year." He continued, "With Freaky Friday in stores next week
I am excited at the potential for this to be the biggest 4th Quarter in
industry history."

About Buena Vista Home Entertainment
Buena Vista Home Entertainment, Inc., a recognized leader in the home
entertainment industry, is the marketing, sales and distribution company
for Walt Disney, Touchstone, Hollywood Pictures, Miramax and Buena Vista
videocassette and DVD product. Buena Vista Home Entertainment, Inc. is a
subsidiary of the Walt Disney Company.

BigT

The check-out girl at my local Walmart said much the same thing ....

Dubya

Disney never passes up an opportunity to toot it's own horn with these kind of press releases.

darqleo

I'd believe it. I couldn't walk into a store the past week without seeing a huge display selling the DVD. Even stores that don't normally sell DVDs.

Mittman

Since it was a widescreen only release, I wonder if that means we will see more of them. It's cheaper and easier for the studio because they only have to make one version, and it obviously doesn't affect sales.

JonTurner

Doesn't THIS tell you that Widescreen only releases work??

WTG!

GatorDeb

Disney is just raking it in this quarter, what with Nemo and POTC (oh and two other little flicks called The Lion King and Sleeping Beauty).

ianholm

Excellent news! Keep the widescreen only releases coming!

milo bloom

I certainly hope this tells the other studios. Maybe they'll quit wasting money on separate full screen releases and put a little energy towards unreleased catalog titles.

Groucho

This movie will BOMB. Look at Cutthroat Island!

QuiGonJosh

CC was almost sold out of it the other day...

aktick

I'd believe it. I couldn't find one on Sunday, even BB was out.

btribble

All these abbreviations... I read the subject and was like "Planet of the... no, oh wait, Attack of the Clones, no that's not it. Fellowship of the.. no..." I finally had to open this thread to see what the movie was.

vegasbaby

To All those full screen lovers :

Just click the zoom button on your dvd player!

HKFlix

Disney deserves its success with this DVD, I think it was an excellent DVD and a surprisingly good film.

gutwrencher

I thought I'd really love this film....but one viddy was plenty. I love Depp and all...but too much goofiness for me. pirates...remain in the moonlight!!! those were great scenes.

for widescreen only!!

Dazed

One of my fav films of 2003 (along with Finding Nemo). And with all the negativity surrounding Disney lately, who can blame them for wanting to post a positive news article

Jackskeleton

I'll state what I usually do for the whole "best selling.. fastest selling... etc. etc." comments.

it set a record this week. wait till the next big hollywood blockbuster and you will see another record broken.

milo bloom

Yeah, yeah, but what a lot of us are picking up on is the fact that Disney has released a major film like this in widescreen only (2.35 no less) and it still did this good. We're hoping Disney and all studios will see this and realize people will still buy in big numbers, even if they can't fill their precious TV screen.

jaeufraser

Well, yeah it will be broken again, but it's still impressive. Doesn't mean it's not worth noting. Especially considering that I don't think anyone expected this movie to be this big.

rexinnih

Made me laugh!

TomOpus

Yes, I agree. The extras in the set, I thought, were pretty darn good. Nice info on the real pirates of the past. Plus I liked the "Fly on the set" series of videos.

John-In-VA

Was she hot?

Jackskeleton

You know, i believe it comes down to the way it's handed to the consumer. If you show them a package at the store that has written accross the top "FULL SCREEN" or "WIDE SCREEN" and they perfer FS for the simple reason that they believe it will fit all the whole screen then they will buy it. a lot of folks still don't realize that a theater screen is shaped differently then most tv screens and they just want what will fill up the whole thing thinking widescreen's black bars will take away picture. (stupid huh). Pirates didn't have that tag on it. You didn't know if it was full screen or not from the cover. I love how disney now wraps the dvd's in the outside box. it gives it a new look and nice feel to it all.

So consumers weren't out there with that implication that the film they were getting was what they were getting. it's a lot of mind games and marketing.

fumanstan

I agree, i think consumers just grabbed whatever was on the shelves since there was no Full Screen or Wide Screen adorned on them. While i'm sure it caused some complaints, it obviously didn't make much of an impact. Regardless, nice to see Disney not bother with a Full Screen release. New Line should have done the same with LOTR to help push widescreen.