'The Last Stand' Debuts at No. 1 on Home Entertainment Charts

Lionsgate

Arnold Schwarzenegger

Arnold Schwarzenegger's comeback film was followed by Jason Statham's “Parker” and “True Blood” Season Five.

It’s a slow time for home video, with studios saving up their big releases for summer and consumer eyeballs glued to the big screen as the parade of summer tentpoles begins marching into theaters.

The top spot on the national home video sales charts the week ending May 26 went to Lionsgate’s The Last Stand, an actioner starring Arnold Schwarzenegger with a perhaps prophetic name for the former California governor: His comeback film only earned a little more than $12 million in theaters, despite a supporting cast that includes such heavyweights as Forest Whitaker, Luis Guzman, Johnny Knoxville (of Jackass fame) and legendary character actor Harry Dean Stanton.

The film’s low box office earnings, coupled with its stellar cast, translated into a big hit in video stores, with the film debuting at No. 1 on both the Nielsen VideoScan First Alert sales chart, which tracks overall disc sales, and Nielsen’s dedicated Blu-ray Disc sales chart.
The No. 2 spot on the sales charts was a split decision. On First Alert, it went to Sony Pictures’ Parker, another actioner that underperformed in theaters ($17.6 million) despite a cast loaded with big names, including Jason Statham, Jennifer Lopez and Nick Nolte.
On the Blu-ray Disc chart, the No. 2 spot went to HBO’s True Blood: The Complete Fifth Season, which bowed at No. 3 on First Alert.
Parker bowed at No. 3 on the Blu-ray Disc chart and also topped Home Media Magazine‘s rental chart its first week in stores.

Another new release that was among the week’s top sellers: Warner’s Beautiful Creatures, a supernatural romance, which also didn’t do well at the box office but is apparently finding an audience on home video. The film, with a cast that includes Jeremy Irons, Emmy Rossum, Alden Ehrenreich, Alice Englert and Viola Davis, earned $19.5 million in theaters (against an estimated budget of $60 million) but should appeal to the Twilight crowd. The film bowed at No. 4 on both First Alert and the Blu-ray Disc sales chart.
LEGO Batman: The Movie – DC Superheroes Unite debuted at No. 5 on First Alert and No. 6 on the Blu-ray Disc sales chart, while Universal Studios Side Effects – a crime drama that made $32.2 million in theaters and stars such well-known actors as Channing Tatum, Catherine Zeta-Jones and Jude Law – bowed at No. 7 on First Alert and No. 5 on the dedicated Blu-ray Disc sales charts.