The Dark Knight Blu-ray Disc up to 2.8 million worldwide, driving PS3 sales

by Richard Lawler posted Feb 4th 2009 at 11:43PM

Fresh off saving packaged media and smashing first week sales records, The Dark Knight Blu-ray is up to nearly 3 million copies sold worldwide, according to Senior VP Dorinda Marticorena. Beyond that, while PlayStation 3 sales may not have quite matched the competition in December 2008, 1/3 of the people who did buy counted the latest Batman flick as a reason why. Warner Bros. Q4 numbers also came out today and were up about 7%, not the least of which had to do with TDK outperforming most of the studio's 2007 releases. Hopefully up to the challenge with their home releases this year? The Watchmen and Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince. Good luck.

[Via Blu-ray.com and Movie Web]

Filed under: Blu-ray

Tags: batman, blu-ray, playstation 3, Playstation3, ps3, sales, the dark knight, TheDarkKnight, warner brs, WarnerBrs

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Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)

Highly Ranked

Gus @ Feb 5th 2009 1:04AM

????PS3 sales have been down YOY over the last few months.

Neutral

Richard Lawler @ Feb 5th 2009 1:06AM

and they'd be worse if it weren't for The Dark Knight. I know a bunch of people who picked one up just to check TDK out on Blu-ray.

Highest Ranked

Gus @ Feb 5th 2009 1:17AM

I guess so, i haven't bought TDK yet, personal taste I know but I wasn't that impressed with it, I thought Heath Ledger was amazing but I personally enjoyed Batman Begins much more as movie.

Neutral

Mark @ Feb 5th 2009 5:22AM

I don't get the headline either - "blu ray player sales" makes more sense. PS3 sales are a little down because the 360 dropped its price and the PS3 didn't. Sony is long overdue a price drop.

Broken headline aside this is a mightily impressive achievement for WB. First week sales even exceeded those of The Matrix on DVD back in 1999. That release is generally regarded as the breakthrough title for the DVD format.

Highest Ranked

David S @ Feb 5th 2009 5:48AM

I just want to make sure I get this right. People wanted to see Dark Knight, so they bought what's probably the most expensive consumer oriented Blu-Ray player on the market?

Personally I think it's more the other way around. That Christmas PS3 sales sold more copies of TDK as an attachment. Also that we'd see similar numbers for every other BR player that was sold in Q4. If you bought a BR player (regardless of model), I'd say 1 in 3 brought home TDK as well.

Neutral

Apollo @ Feb 5th 2009 8:21AM

This is exactly the circumstances surrounding my PS3 + Dark Knight Blu-Ray purchase, and i am a not some stupid consumer, it was just the movie that made me decide to go blu ray and the PS3 offers a ton more than other bd players, including the games which i am also a fan of. But Dark Knight is responsible for my ps3 purchase.

Neutral

jay @ Feb 5th 2009 10:43AM

same here. bought TDK before I even had a PS3. got PS3 before Christmas.
sure enough....the IMAX looks awesome.
I almost can't justify on buying a lot of blu-ray movies just for better resolution for today's average drama/comedy.

Highly Ranked

Pingles @ Feb 5th 2009 10:49AM

I wonder what Christian Bale thinks of this.

Highest Ranked

DEEZNUTZ @ Feb 5th 2009 11:54AM

"F**k you Pingles!"

- Christian Bale.

Neutral

teej @ Feb 5th 2009 10:59AM

unfortunately, i think Watchmen won't do so well. most laypeople are gonna think it looks stupid. i've read the novel, and it's awesome. however, i'm pretty nerd, and my non-nerd friends, who like superhero movies, just didn't think it was awesome and probably because they don't know of the Watchmen. with that said, i dont think it will help WB that much.

Neutral

Mike @ Feb 5th 2009 12:08PM

Well, TDK wasn't that great a movie...but I am curious how many BD were sold vs dvd.

Neutral

Sean @ Feb 5th 2009 1:55PM

Driving PS3 sales up? PLEASE. Everyone with a half a brain knows that you an buy a Blu-ray player for 150 bucks now. Why would you spend 399 to play a Blu-Ray? Answer: They aren't. That's why the PS3 sales are path-e-tic.

Neutral

Fred @ Feb 5th 2009 2:09PM

where did all of these haters for the Dark Knight come from???
"Not that good of a movie," and what action, comic book movies are better???

The PS3 sales are higher than last year, but behind the 360. Now if you bought the PS3 solely as a blu ray player, then no offense you are an idiot. But if you bought it as a player and a gaming machine. Good for you.

And to those who are going to start to write I have all 3 consoles and blah blah blah, you guys need a life.

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