STATUS QUO PRESERVED AMONG 5 TOP-RENTED VIDEOGAMES
It was a repeat performance for videogames from Electronic Arts (EA), Atari and Activision as the 5 top-rented titles in the week ended Dec. 21 were the same as a week ago, Rentrak’s preliminary Home Video Essentials data showed. PS2 again dominated the chart as every game in the top 10 was for Sony Computer Entertainment’s console. Universal Home Video’s Seabiscuit was the top-rented DVD in its first full week of availability.
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EA’s Need for Speed: Underground and Medal of Honor: Rising Sun again were the 2 top-rented games in the week, with an additional $462,047 and $394,720 in rental earnings, respectively, boosting their totals to date to $2.06 million and $3.23 million. Atari’s Dragon Ball Z: Budokai 2 again was #3, earning an additional $349,231 for a total of $837,713. Activision’s True Crime: Streets of L.A. and Tony Hawk’s Underground again were #4 and #5, with an additional $341,600 and $311,608, respectively, for total earnings of $2.39 million and $2.87 million.
EA had 2 other games in the top 10 in the week: Madden NFL 2004 at #7 (down 1 from a week ago, earning an additional $226,579 in its 19th week for a total of $5.05 million to date) and The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King at #9 (up 11, with an additional $217,546 in its 7th week for a $1.40 million total to date).
Sony, Take-Two Interactive and THQ again had one game each in the top 10: Respectively, SOCOM II: U.S. Navy SEALs at #6 (up 2 in its 7th week, $264,511 in the week and $1.85 million to date), Manhunt at #8 (up 2 in its 5th week, $217,979 and $1.07 million), WWE Smackdown! Here Comes the Pain at #10 (down 3 in its 8th week, $200,367 and $1.91 million).
Rentrak said Seabiscuit earned $6.45 million in rentals on DVD for the week and $6.59 million on DVD to date. It said combined DVD and VHS rental earnings for the week were $9.42 million and combined earnings to date were $9.58 million.
Two other new DVDs made the top 10 in their first full week of availability: Disney’s 2003 remake of its own Freaky Friday at #2 and Twentieth Century Fox Home Entertainment’s League of Extraordinary Gentlemen at #3. Rentrak said Freaky Friday made $6.09 million in rentals in the week on DVD and $6.20 million to date. It said combined DVD and VHS rental earnings for the week were $8.81 million and combined earnings to date were $8.96 million. Rentrak said League made $5.60 million in rentals in the week on DVD and $5.71 million to date. Combined DVD and VHS rental earnings for the week were $8.62 million and combined earnings to date were $8.76 million.
Last week’s #1-rented DVD -- Disney’s Pirates of the Caribbean: Curse of the Black Pearl -- tumbled to #5. Rentrak said the DVD earned an additional $5.13 million in the week, boosting its total rental earnings to date to $21.35 million. It said the title’s combined DVD and VHS rental earnings were $7.80 million in the week and combined earnings to date were $30.98 million.
Disney had the most videos in the top 10 in the week with 3, factoring in combined DVD and VHS rentals, Rentrak said. The studio’s other title in the top 10 was Santa Clause 2 at #7, down 3 from a week ago. Rentrak said the title’s combined DVD and VHS rental earnings for the week were $3.21 million and combined earnings to date were $25.19 million. It said the DVD earned an additional $1.88 million in the week and $15.42 million to date.
Fox and Universal each had one other video in the top 10. Fox’s was X2: X-Men United at #8 in combined DVD and VHS rentals, down 3 from a week ago. Rentrak said combined rental earnings for the title were $2.17 million for the week and combined earnings to date were $22.74 million. It said the DVD alone earned $1.50 million in the week and $15.42 million to date. Universal’s other title in the top 10 was the Jim Carrey comedy Bruce Almighty at #6 in combined DVD and VHS rentals, down 3 from a week ago. Rentrak said combined rental earnings for the title were $5.51 million in the week and $39.86 million to date. It said the DVD alone earned $3.59 million in the week and $24.74 million to date.
Columbia TriStar Home Video, Warner Home Video and Paramount Home Entertainment each had to settle for one title in the top 10 in combined DVD and VHS rentals: Respectively, Bad Boys II at #4 (down 2, $8.26 million for the week and $18.18 million to date), How to Deal at #9 (down 3, $1.91 million and $4.64 million), Lara Croft Tomb Raider: The Cradle of Life at #10 (down 1, $1.60 million and $21.50 million). Rentrak said the DVD versions of those 3 titles earned an additional $5.57 million, $1.27 million and $1.13 million in the week for total rental earnings of $12.36 million, $3.05 million and $14.81 million to date.