HD Disc Sales for "300" Break Records

Some encouraging new numbers for the HD disc market: first-week sales of the blood-and-guts epic "300" were the biggest yet for a high-def disc, regardless of format. Looks like Blu-ray and HD DVD are finally making a (small) dent in the overall disc market.

According to Warner Brothers, the studio that released "300," the movie sold a total of 250,000 copies in its first week. That number includes both Blu-ray and HD DVD versions; Warner Brothers, which hasn't taken sides in the format war (and is probably trying to spin the news as validation of its dual-format strategy), didn't release Blu-ray-versus-HD DVD sales numbers.

Make no mistake—"300"'s sales figures pale compared to the millions and millions that the top standard DVD titles sell each week. Still, consider this: back in April, when the first Blu-ray and HD DVD sales figures were released, the Blu-ray version of "Casino Royale" topped the charts (for the week of March 18), selling a grand total of…28,233 copies. In fact, the top 10 titles for that week sold about 40,000 copies, combined. Considering that "300" managed to sell a total of 250,000 copies in a single week—all by itself—it looks like overall HD disc sales are growing dramatically.

Both the Blu-ray and HD DVD formats have a long ways to go before achieving anything resembling mainstream success—obviously, someone needs to pick a winner in the format war, prices need to drop, and the overall number of titles available needs to increase dramatically. But "300"'s success in the HD disc market reminds me of a similar (if considerably larger) bellwether title back in the early days of DVD: "The Matrix," which broke records by selling more than 750,000 copies in its first week (back in December 1999).

Related:
300 Is the Fastest Selling HD Title on the Market [MovieWeb]