To me, "confirmation" requires first-hand knowledge of the facts, and this really doesn't sound like that's the case at all.

So does your confirmation mean anything? or is it speculation?

My answer remains the same, two different insiders provided two different reads. The first one which I confirmed for the site has not yet been retracted. Now I have given you the second breakdown as well. If and when the first read is retracted I will make it clear which one contains the correct numbers.

To Mr. Cinema: yes my posts provide you with the opportunity to have the two reads offered by the insiders. And unlike another thread on this site which announced 190 000K for Transformers yet it was never updated, even as of today, I brought you both sides of the story. So, no, I am not speculating.

Pro-B

You seemed to jump right in before the official numbers were posted to the public like you had contacts regarding the 130k number was for Spider-Man 3 only and not the boxset. That is what I am taking issue with now. I tend to believe the second set of numbers you posted, since I don't see how 300 on Blu-ray could jump out several thousand copies in a single week (even with the $400 PS3 being released on Friday). Too many issues with Spider-Man 3 doing 130k copies.

So which one is it? I'm going to assume its the latter as Sony had not announced anything else yet and is keeping mum on this. If they had sold 225k of Spider-Man 3 (separate and trilogy) there would have been fireworks by now. FACT: Transformers sold MORE then Spider-Man 3 as a single release. Pretty damn good.

I would also like to say my contact told me Transformers sold 650k copies last week. Did I need to prove that in any sort of way or will everyone just take my word for it?

What I'm saying is that you haven't confirmed anything. If you don't know anything yourself -- if you're relying 100% on what you're told by another party and lack direct access to the numbers you're touting -- then you are inherently unable to provide confirmation. An insider may have confirmed something, and it'd be perfectly reasonable to say that he confirmed it, but you yourself are not in a position to confirm anything.

I know it's just semantics, but the misuse of the word 'confirm' does grate a bit.

most definitely the boxset numbers certainly were going to affect Spidey 3's numbers. I'm surprised that 70,000+ people wanted part 3 by itself. I know some are waiting for the eventual single releases of parts 1 and 2, but 70,000? That set was priced at $60 at Best Buy and Amazon, part 3 was roughly $30, so there's much more value in getting the trilogy, imo.

And if we take the 130,000 including both, then the 50,000+ copies of the trilogy is pretty decent numbers, until you throw in the fact that there are over 2 million Blu-ray capable players, and it doesn't seem so impressive. I think we can safely say that the Spidey trilogy appeals to almost everyone who appreciates high-definition.

I agree on all counts. I feel bad for the 70k that bought Spider-Man 3 by itself, what a horrible movie (besides the Sand Mans special effects). Spider-Man 1,2,3 has come and gone and its a blip on the Blu-ray sales radar. I keep hearing how great POTC3 will do though, and Simpsons, and Die Hard

Pirates 3 should sell better than the other 2, due only to the fact that it's day and date. But like Spidey 3, Pirates 3 sold alot less tickets than its predecessor. Simpsons should do well, but I wouldn't put my hopes on Die Hard 4 dominating anything.

Whatever the 1st week numbers, I'm pretty sure Spidey will have legs... I'd be surprised to see either SP3 or the box set drop out of the top 10 before Christmas. I'm more interesting in seeing the results for Cars & especially the Rat. Two titles that are outside the PS3's supposed demographics, yet two killer titles (IMO the new kings of HD), backed by also IMO some outstanding promo work by Disney (great commercials that were everywhere).

I am unsure why you believe that the film did not have an impact. If we go by the second "read" it is still quite impressive given that there was a copy of it which went out with the PS3 and it is not counted in the overall sales as well as the current Dell-Canada promo which also bundles a copy. All things considered I expect Spidey to sell very well throughout the Hollidays.

Pro-B

I don't think that's a reasonable assessment at all. I'd bet both Spidey 3 and the box set will have legs, continuing to sell well through the end of the year. Even breaking the box set apart from the individual Spidey 3 release, they're still some of the best selling titles on either format. I'm not the biggest fan of the movie either, but I don't know how it can be reasonably called a "blip".

All I kept hearing all year long was "Spider-Man, Spider-Man, Spider-Man," and as a single SKU, it didn't sell better then Transformers.

I'm sorry, but I don't think very many people who bought a 40GB PS3 would have bought a copy of Spider-Man 3. As-is, if Spider-Man 3 and the Trilogy only sold 130k combined. Now, of we take into account that only 20% of PS3 owners buy Blu-ray movies, and Sony maybe sold 20-30k 40GB PS3s in the past 2-3 days (being very generous there), they might have sold an extra 2-3k copies of Spider-Man 3, thats if all of that 20% bought the movie within the 1-3 days of the 40GBs release.

Sorry, in general its not a blip in terms of HDM sales. However, I think a lot of Pro-Blu people were expecting it to sell somewhere around 400-500k copies in the first week. When combined it only sells 130k...its pretty dissapointing. I'm sure either Spider-Man 3 or the Trilogy will remain in the top 10 throughout the Holidays, but I think a lot of people were expecting it to be topple 300 combined numbers by a landslide. It clearly did not. Selling only 130k copies to a base of 3-4 Million capable Blu-ray players is not that great. Thats 3-4% of Blu-ray owners. I imagine even a small HD DVD release would get a better % then that.

I really underestimated Ratatiououli on Blu-ray. That thing is selling like nuts! I imagine because its one of the first Pixar animated movies (along with Cars and Shorts), but damn...that thing really is selling! $10 off with purchase of the Cars or Shorts helps too. I wonder how Shrek 3 will fare next week on HD DVD?

I wonder if the recent wave of really compelling video games -- something that's really just started in the past week or two -- is hurting things. There are more games I want that are coming out this month than the rest of the year combined, and maybe the limited time/budget most people have is eating into what they'd normally devote to Blu-ray discs, especially since the format is driven by a video game console.

Sorry Gizmo, but it was good enough to give BD a commanding win at 71/29 in the Nielsons and this was with the the 3 day hd-dvd pricing onslaught included.

C'mon man, making statements like Spidey was a blip on the radar in the BD thread is like me stating Transformers was a blip on the radar in the Hd-dvd forum and that is very much trolling. I thought it was understood to keep everything to a compelling discussion and leaving flamebait statements out of it.

The only big game for PS3 has been Ratchet and Clank (and GHIII), and that didn't sell as well as they had hoped. With the Holidays a ton of games will be coming out, and when they do, I fully expect numbers on the Blu side to dip. I still see a big chunk of the Blu-ray buyers as being a PS3 owner who buys movies because of lack of games. Why spend $25 on a 2 hour movie when you can get a great game for $60 that has 10-40 hours of entertainment? Same thing happened to UMD when games came out for the PSP.

It's about damn time! COD4 and Ratchet and Clank have been some great titles to play. Hopefully this is when the tsunami starts.

The same Nielsons that does not count Wal-Marts HD DVD sales (thats were the pricing onslaught was, remember?) Remember, Spider-Man came out on Tuesday, the $99 A2s at Wal-Mart (and Best Buy) were not until Thursday/Friday?

Unless you work for Sony, Nielsen, your confirmation means absolute zero.

Your rampant posting of "confirming" information (and I use that term loosely) from unnamed insiders off a Web site is 100% wrong and I don't know why mods allow you to post confirmations if you don't work for Sony, Nielsen or somebody else with direct knowledge.

There is a reason why most hearsay is barred from use of evidence in legal proceedings in the United States. Its because the person using hearsay to testify has no direct personal knowledge of facts. I'm not saying we should apply legal standards to forum, but if you want intelligent discussion, and not the posting of rampant incorrect information, the mods should not allow posters to use the word "confirm" for any facts outside their realm or knowledge or has facts accesible at a link

I can confirm that some of this is true....

But I can not confirm that this belongs here....

Agreed.

Ratchet has also been a sales disappointment. I think Uncharted will be the big title for the PS3 this holiday season.

You're assessment of the situation is deeply flawed. Every 40 GB PS3($399) sold so far includes a Spider-man 3 BD packed in the box. And these giveaways have been confirmed to not be included in retail sales figures. Why would someone go out and buy a second copy of Spider-man 3?

As people buy new hardware there are always certain catalog titles they will pick up to watch and I think the Spider Man movies definitely fall in that category. They will have legs and continue to sell just like 300 has.