Warner Bros. The Dark Knight quickly became the top-grossing film of 2008, and is set to become the best’selling home video release of the year even quicker. Warner Home Video announced that film sold more than 13.5 million copies worldwide in its first week at retail. By the end of this week, the blockbuster is expected to outsell all other movies released in the past 12 months. Fans snatched up approximately 1.7 million Dark Knight Blu-ray discs in the first week, setting the high-water mark for future high-def debuts.
The Dark Knight hit retail in the U.S., Canada, the U.K., Japan, Benelux and Australia last week, and managed to beat the slump that has plagued the home video industry this year. The recession didn’t stop consumers in the U.S. from buying 3 million copies on the first day of release. Revenues earned from sales and rentals are just icing on the cake for a production that has grossed close to $1 billion at the box office worldwide since opening in July. To date, only Titanic, Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King and Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man’s Chest have managed to reach the billion-dollar mark.
Warner Bros. is re-releasing Dark Knight in theaters on Jan. 23, hoping to do even more business once the Oscar nominations are announced. The late Heath Ledger is likely to be up for Best Supporting Actor, and Christopher Nolan may be in the running for Best Director. The flick is sure to garner nominations in a number of other categories.
